Heaters, Pools, Bed Rails: Household Dangers Can Kill Seniors

WEDNESDAY, March 9, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- A new report delivers a troubling statistic: Seven in 10 consumer product-related deaths occur among those older than 65 years, even though these people only account for 16 percent of the U.S. population.

Each year, consumer products are linked to roughly 3,800 deaths and nearly 3 million emergency department visits among older Americans, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) report revealed.

Falls are the most common product-related cause of injuries and deaths among older Americans. Each year, there are an average of 1,800 deaths from falls and 1.5 million emergency department-treated injuries among older adults. Falls typically occur on floors, stairs, and steps and from beds. Older adults are six times more likely to be treated in the emergency department as a result of a fall on flooring than younger people.

Seniors are also 3.5 times more likely to die in fires than the general population, with about 930 deaths annually. Smoking and cooking are two major causes of fire. The report also discovered that the clothing fire death rate among older adults is 14 times higher than among people younger than 65 years.

The dangers do not end there: About 300 older adults die due to drownings, mostly associated with swimming pools, bathtubs, and spas; about 200 die in incidents involving bicycles, e-scooters, and off-road vehicles; and about 45 die due to carbon monoxide poisoning from sources like heating devices, generators, and other engine-driven equipment.

Adult portable bed rails are involved in about 16 deaths a year among people aged 65 years and older. These bed rails are generally used to protect people who are at risk for falling out of bed, but many do not meet safety standards and create an entrapment risk, resulting in suffocation. Victims can get caught, stuck, wedged, or trapped between the mattress or bed and the bed rail, between bed rail bars, or between a dresser and the bed rail, according to the report.

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