- Design
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of 19 observational studies
- Population
- Adults aged 65 or over attending emergency after a fall
- Primary outcome
- Emergency revisits and hospital readmissions within 1 year
- Effect
- ED revisit 15.0% at 30 days, 41.3% at 12 months; readmission 10.4% at 30 days
A systematic review and meta-analysis in Age and Ageing (4 September 2026) pooled 19 observational studies of adults aged 65 or over who attended an emergency department after a fall, and tracked return visits and admissions over the following year.
Emergency revisits accumulated steadily: 3.9% within 3 days, 8.8% within a week, 15.0% within 30 days, 37.5% by 6 months and 41.3% by a year. Hospital readmission was 10.4% at 30 days and about 31% by 6 to 12 months. Some time points rest on a single study, and heterogeneity was substantial.
The pattern matters more than any single figure. A fall that brings an older person to emergency is a marker of wider vulnerability, not an isolated accident, and the months that follow carry a high chance of further acute care. It is the point at which a structured falls and frailty assessment is most likely to pay off.
- Treat an emergency attendance for a fall as a trigger for a full falls and frailty assessment.
- Review medicines, vision, continence, cognition and home hazards after any fall presentation.
- Arrange follow-up within weeks of discharge from the emergency department, not months.
- Tell patients and families that the risk of returning to hospital is high over the next year.
Why it matters
It reframes the 'simple fall' discharged from emergency as the start of a period of high acute care use.
Don't overread it
Some time points come from a single study, and heterogeneity was substantial.
The statistics, in plain English
Cumulative proportions add up over time: the 41% at one year includes those who came back within days. Substantial heterogeneity means hospitals varied a lot, so local rates may differ.
Read the rest in the app
You have read your two free briefings this month. The app carries all 27 specialties, every morning, free — and this finding is waiting in it.
Scan to keep reading on your phone. No account needed to start.
Tomorrow morning, before your first patient
One edition a day for geriatrics, written by the desk, every claim tied to its paper. Six minutes.
Get the app — free