Lea County Health Highlights: Fall-related Death Rates Among Adults 65+ Years of Age

Injury: Death from Falls

Lea County Compared to State


*Description of Dashboard Gauge

Description of the Dashboard Gauge

This "dashboard" type graphic is based on the community data on the right. It compares the community value on this indicator to the state overall value.
  • Excellent = The community's value on this indicator is BETTER than the state value, and the difference IS statistically significant.
  • Watch = The community's value is BETTER than state value, but the difference IS NOT statistically significant.
  • Improvement Needed = The community's value on this indicator is WORSE than the state value, but the difference IS NOT statistically significant.
  • Reason for Concern = The community's value on this indicator is WORSE than the state value, and the difference IS statistically significant.

The community value is considered statistically significantly different from the state value if the state value is outside the range of the community's 95% confidence interval. If the community's data or 95% confidence interval information is not available, a blank gauge image will be displayed with the message, "missing information."
NOTE: The labels used on the gauge graphic are meant to describe the community's status in plain language. The placement of the gauge needle is based solely on the statistical difference between the community and state values. When selecting priority health issues to work on, a community should take into account additional factors such as how much improvement could be made, the U.S. value, the statistical stability of the community number, the severity of the health condition, and whether the difference is clinically significant.

Why Is This Important?

Falls are the leading cause of unintentional (accidental) injury death among adults 65 years of age and older in the United States and in New Mexico. The majority of injuries from falls that lead to death were hip fracture and traumatic brain injury. A serious injury from a fall can limit mobility and independent living. Falls also can increase the risk of early death. Many people who fall develop a fear of falling, and may become more sedentary.

How Are We Doing?

The fall-related death rate among adults 65 years of age and older in New Mexico increased 220% between 1990 and 2010, and has increased five-fold since 1981.

Related Indicators

Relevant Population Characteristics:

Risk Factors:


Fall-related Death Rates Among Adults 65+ Years of Age by County, New Mexico vs. U.S., 2006-2010

::chart - missing::

Lea County 48.8
95% Confidence Interval

Description of 95% Confidence Interval

The confidence interval indicates the range of probable true values for the level of risk in the community.

A value of "DNA" (Data Not Available) will appear if the confidence interval was not published with the IBIS indicator data for this measure.

For more information on confidence intervals, visit the New Mexico IBIS confidence interval page at http://ibis.health.state.nm.us/resources/ConfidenceInterval.html.
(25.6 - 72.0)
Statistical Stability

Description of Statistical Stability

  • Stable = This count or rate is relatively stable and should provide a good estimate of your community risk.
  • Unstable = This count or rate is statistically unstable (RSE >0.30), and may fluctuate widely due to random variation (chance).
  • Very Unstable = This count or rate is extremely unstable (RSE >0.50). This value should not be used to represent your population risk. You should combine years or otherwise increase the population denominator in this calculation.
  • DNA = Data Not Available. The required community value and/or confidence interval was not available for this measure.

For more information on statistical stability, visit the New Mexico IBIS Reliability and Validity page at http://ibis.health.state.nm.us/resources/ReliabilityValidity.html.
Stable
New Mexico 102.7
U.S. 50.8

Note

Rates are age-specific death rates for ICD-9 Codes: E880-E886, E888 (1990-1998) and ICD-10 codes ICD-10 Codes: W00-W19 (1999 forward).  U.S. data are from 2008.

Data Sources

New Mexico Death Data: Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics (BVRHS), New Mexico Department of Health.   Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, CDC WONDER Online Database (http://wonder.cdc.gov).  

Measure Description for Injury: Death from Falls

Definition: Fall-related death rate is the number of deaths due to falls per 100,000 population.
Numerator: The number of fall-related deaths per year.
Denominator: The mid-year estimated population.
Click on this link to jump to the complete indicator profile report for Injury: Death from Falls (exits this community report).
Date Indicator Content Last Updated: 04/19/2012
Injury Epidemiology Unit, Epidemiology and Response Division, New Mexico Department of Health, 1190 St. Francis Dr., Room N1105, P.O. Box 26110, Santa Fe, NM, 87502. Contact Glenda Hubbard, Epidemiologist, by telephone at (505) 476-3607 or email to Glenda.Hubbard@state.nm.us.
The information provided above is from the New Mexico Department of Health's NM-IBIS web site (http://ibis.health.state.nm.us). The information published on this website may be reproduced without permission. Please use the following citation: "Retrieved Wed, 22 May 2013 11:14:18 from New Mexico Department of Health, Indicator-Based Information System for Public Health Web site: http://ibis.health.state.nm.us".

Content updated: Thu, 7 Jun 2012 13:25:00 MDT