3. Population ageing
"Population ageing is a triumph of humanity
but also a challenge to society" (34).
Worldwide, the number of persons over
60 years is growing faster than any other
age group. The number of this age group
was estimated to be 688 million in 2006,
projected to grow to almost two billions
by 2050. By that time, the population of
older people will be much larger than that
of children under the age of 14 years for
the first time in human history. Moreover,
the oldest segment of population, aged 80
and over, particularly prone to falls and its
consequences is the fastest growing within
older population expected to represent 20%
of the older population by 2050 (35).
Figure 2 illustrates the population pyramid
in 2005 and 2025. It highlights the growing
proportion of older population in parallel
with a decreasing proportion of younger
population. The triangular population pyramid
of 2005 will be replaced with a more
cylinder-like structure in 2025.
a) Impact of population ageing on falls.
Falls prevention is a challenge to population
ageing. The numbers of falls increase in
magnitude as the numbers of older adults
increase in many nations throughout the
world. Falls exponentially increase with
age-related biological change, therefore a
pronounced number of persons over the age
of 80 years will trigger substantial increase
of falls and fall injury at an alarming rate. In
fact, incidence of some fall injuries, such as
fractures and spinal cord injury, have markedly
increased by 131% during the last three
decades (36). If preventive measures are not
taken in immediate future, the numbers of
injuries caused by falls is projected to be
100% higher in the year 2030 (36).