Escalator Injuries Rise in Older Adults

By NICHOLAS BAKALAR
8 april - Riding an escalator is not ordinarily considered risky, but a new study reports that from 1991 to 2005, nearly 40,000 people older than 65 were injured while doing so, an average of 2,660 a year.
The rate of injury more than doubled in that period — to 11 per 100,000 population in 2005, the latest year for which figures are available, from 4.9 in 1991. There were no fatalities, but more than 2,500 people were hospitalized, mostly for broken bones.
Nobody knows why the rate is rising. “Perhaps the exposure is greater than it was in 1991,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Joseph O’Neil, an associate professor of pediatrics at Indiana University. “We don’t know if there are more escalators, but there are certainly more active older adults.”
Slips and falls caused 85 percent of the injuries, and the rate of injury for women was almost twice as high as for men. (Women are more likely than men to injure themselves in a fall, whether on escalators or not, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.)
The report, published in the March issue of the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention, is based on an analysis of data collected by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
“Over all, escalators are safe,” Dr. O’Neil said. “But there are chances for injuries to occur, and as older adults use these devices, they need to use caution.”