Objective To understand the distribution characteristics of injury caused by fall in the elderly aged ≥60 years in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, during 2016−2017 and provide evidence for effective injury prevention and control in the elderly.

Methods The data of injury cases seeking medical care for the first time were collected in 5 injury surveillance hospitals in Guangzhou from 2016 to 2017 for the analysis on the distribution characteristics of fall caused injury in the elderly aged ≥60 years.

Results During 2016−2017, a total of 4 361 injury cases caused by fall in the elderly aged ≥60 years were reported by the 5 injury surveillance hospitals, accounting for 49.5% of the total injury cases in this group. Fall was the first leading cause of injury in this group. The men to women ratio of the injury cases was 0.60∶1. Injuries mainly occurred at home during leisure time. Most cases had mild and moderate injuries and left hospitals after treatment. The proportion of the injury caused by fall was slightly higher in March, July and November. With the increase of age, the proportion of fall caused injury cases increased gradually in older age group, the difference was significant (χ²＝1 220.807, P＜0.001). According to the gender and age group stratification, with the increase of age, the proportions of fracture cases, cases needing observation/hospitalization/referral and moderate injury cases increased. The people with lower degree of education had higher proportion of fall caused injuries (χ²＝85.667, P＜0.001). The injuries were mainly contusion/scratch or fracture (χ²＝3 095.215, P＜0.001) and the injury sites were mainly head or lower limb (χ²＝1 273.623, P＜0.001).

Conclusion Fall is the major injury cause in the elderly in Guangzhou. It is necessary to take targeted prevention and intervention measures to reduce falls in the elderly.