FACTS AND STATS ABOUT BALANCE IN AMERICA FROM THE CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL

• One out of three older adults (those aged 65 or older) falls each year. (How well we keep our balance in midlife can protect us from what lies ahead: One in three adults over age 65 takes a serious tumble each year. Avoiding falls means a longer life: About 20% of women who fracture a hip become permanently disabled, and another 20% die within a year. In fact, health problems linked to hip fractures result in more women's deaths each year than breast cancer does.
  (source: https://www.prevention.com/fitness/a20443104/6-ways-to-improve-your-balance/ )
  
• Nearly 8 million adults officially report balance problems (many do not)
  
• every 13 seconds an adults is rushed to an emergency room because of a fall
  
• In 2013 one woman fell 53 times in her apartment
  
• 1/3 of adults over 65 report difficulty with balance; ½ of adults over 75 report balance difficulty
  
• men and women are affected equally when it comes to balance issues
  
• Among older adults, falls are the leading cause of both fatal and nonfatal injuries.
  
• In 2013, 2.5 million nonfatal falls among older adults were treated in emergency departments and more than 734,000 of these patients were hospitalized.
  
• In 2013, the direct medical costs of falls, adjusted for inflation, were $34 billion