Background The frequency of falls among the elderly and their severity represent a major public health issue, whether in terms of deaths, functional or psychological sequelae, and cost. In France, the proportion of elderly people aged 65 years and more represent 18% of the population (12.2 million). Life expectancy at birth is 79.2 years for men and 85.4 years for women. In metropolitan France in 2011, 9,412 deaths due to falls were reported, of which 90% in people aged 65 years old and more with a sex-ratio equal to 0.6. It is necessary to further explore their risk factors for the implementation of effective preventive actions.

Methods Patients to be included in the study should be aged 65 years or more, suffering from an accidental fall at home resulting in hospitalisation. Prospective data collection will start in 2016 during six months in several French hospitals emergency services. Standardised questionnaires will collect the circumstances of the falls, socio-economic and demographic status, and health and home characteristics of the patients. A follow-up study will be carried out one year after the fall to evaluate sequelae.

Results This study aims at identifying the circumstances of accidental falls at home among the elderly and establishing profiles of fallers with the help of factorial analyses. The second part of the study will analyse the consequences of the falls one year later: recurrent falls, type of sequelae and disability, quality of life, depending on the initial severity of the fall and the profile of the faller.

Conclusions This study will contribute to the implementation of adapted preventive measures thanks to the profiles established.