Since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, people have been more active outdoors, which has increased the number of injuries.

To prevent injuries, older adults should watch out for “falls and trips,” while young people should be careful of “personal mobility devices,” including electric scooters.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said Thursday that it has released an “Injury Incidence Status 2024” report to establish customized damage prevention and management measures for various damage risk factors.

According to the report, 2.88 million people experienced injuries that required medical treatment at medical institutions in 2022, and 1.14 million were hospitalized patients. Last year, 28,000 people died for similar reasons. The number of hospitalizations and deaths because of injury increased 19.5 percent and 4.2 percent year-on-year.

The agency attributed the increase to people being more active outdoors as the Covid-19 phase returned to normalcy.

In 2023, 203,285 people visited emergency rooms due to injury, a 5.1 percent year-on-year increase. This is the same level as in 2020 when Covid-19 began in earnest.

By the age of hospitalized patients, falls and trips accounted for 71.3 percent of hospitalizations in the 75+ age group. The 0-14 age group also had many falls and trips (43.5 percent).

Notably, falls and trips accounted for 40.5 percent of all severe trauma patients transported to emergency medical facilities by paramedics. Among them, 61.3 percent died, and 72.8 percent of those who survived suffered disorders.

People aged 15 to 24 years old are most likely to suffer injuries from using personal mobility devices, such as motorized scooters.

As the use of personal mobility devices has increased in recent years, the KDCA conducted a brief survey on them from September 2022 to August 2023 through hospitals participating in the Emergency Room Injury In-depth Survey.

The results showed that 1,258 patients were injured by personal mobility devices, 40.4 percent of them aged 15 to 24. Of the personal mobility device injuries, 86.3 percent were caused by electric scooters, and 10.2 percent were caused by electric bicycles.

Notably, 75.0 percent of those injured patients were not wearing helmets, and 11.2 percent were wearing helmets, with 6.7 times more helmet non-wearers than wearers. Some 47 percent of the patients had a driver's license, but 18.3 percent did not.

“As prevention of injury is important, we will do our best to establish effective injury prevention and control measures that consider the characteristics of each life cycle and field,” KDCA Commissioner Jee Young-mee said. “We will continue national efforts to create an environment where all citizens, including those vulnerable to injury, can live safely.”