HONG KONG - Fall was the most common type of accident leading to injuries in Hong Kong, accounting for 39.4 percent of all incidences that occurred over a 12-month period, followed by sprains and struck-by injuries, according to a report by the Department of Health.

Unveiled on Wednesday, the Report of Unintentional Injury Survey 2018 is the second comprehensive study to assess the epidemiology of unintentional injuries (commonly known as accidents) in Hong Kong after the first survey conducted in 2008. 

A total of 4.4 percent of Hong Kong’s population of 7.22 million sustained at least one injury in the 12 months, 98.6 percent of whom were reported to have suffered an injury

A total of 14,204 people from 5,394 households in Hong Kong were surveyed between September 2018 and July 2019.

According to the latest findings, 4.4 percent of Hong Kong’s population of 7.22 million sustained at least one injury in the 12 months, compared to 6.2 percent in 2008. 

Of the 4.4 percent, 98.6 percent were reported to have had one accident while 1.4 percent were found to have sustained more than one injury.

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The most common cause of injury was falls, representing 39.4 percent of the total cases, followed by injuries caused by sprains (26.2 percent) and struck-by accidents (13.3 percent). Sports-related injuries made up 7.4 percent of the total while incidences involving cutting and piercing accounted for 3.6 percent of all cases. 

Among children aged below 14, falls and sports contributed to 37.2 percent and 23.9 percent of injuries, respectively, according to the report. 

The elderly aged 75 and above saw the highest proportion in both sustained unintentional injuries and injuries requiring hospitalization, the survey found.

More than a quarter of injuries took place at home while unpaid work ranked top in activities associated with injuries, it added.

Women were found to be more prone to domestic and fall-related injury episodes, while men were often victims of occupational and sports-related injury episodes.

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The survey aims to collect updated information on the patterns and trends of unintentional injuries to support policy formation, resources allocation and planning of health education activities so as to prevent unintentional injuries and to minimize the harm brought by, according to the report. 

"Adopting appropriate safety measures can prevent injuries and limit the physical harm caused by injury episodes," a spokesman for the department said.

In 2018, the total number of in-patient discharges and deaths in all hospitals due to injuries was 120,812, accounting for 5.4 percent of the total. 

The potential years of life lost at the age of 75 due to injury ranked the second among the ten leading causes of local deaths from 2000 to 2018.