Everyday activities cause most emergency room visits, study shows

Slipping or tripping on floors emerged as the leading cause of emergency room visits in a Walner Law analysis of national injury data. The study recorded 3.1 million such visits in 2025, a figure roughly seven times higher than cycling injuries and more than any single sport examined. These incidents also carried a 31.1 percent hospitalization rate, over three times the typical share across all activities tracked.

Walner Law compiled the rankings by reviewing more than 80 sports, exercise routines, and household activities. Researchers drew on U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates derived from hospital records nationwide. The analysis compared visit totals from 2025 against the prior year and calculated the percentage of cases resulting in hospital admission for each activity.

Trips on stairs produced 1.3 million emergency room visits in 2025, reflecting a 4.6 percent year-over-year increase. The hospitalization rate stood at 15.5 percent. This volume exceeded basketball-related visits by a factor of roughly 3.5 and has risen each year since 2021.

Getting in and out of bed accounted for 1.2 million emergency room visits in 2025, up 9.6 percent from the previous year. Nearly one-quarter of these cases, or 24.1 percent, ended in hospitalization. The total has climbed almost 50 percent since approximately 810,000 visits in 2021.

Falls from chairs generated 580,000 emergency room visits in 2025, marking a 10.9 percent increase over the prior year. The hospitalization rate reached 23.2 percent. This total surpassed swimming injuries by about 400,000 visits and sits more than 50 percent above 2021 levels.

Cycling produced 441,000 emergency room visits in 2025, the only sport among the top five activities. The figure declined 3.1 percent year over year yet remained 17 percent above 2021 totals. The 14.1 percent hospitalization rate exceeded basketball's 2.0 percent share, while visit volume outpaced both basketball at 366,000 and football at 313,000.

Bathing and showering led to 426,000 emergency room visits in 2025, a 2.1 percent rise from the year before. One in five of these visits, or 20.8 percent, resulted in hospitalization, a higher rate than most other activities in the top 10.

Knife-related injuries prompted 408,000 visits in 2025, down 0.5 percent, with a 1.8 percent hospitalization rate. Bumping into tables caused 383,000 visits, up 5.5 percent, with 13.1 percent hospitalized. Exercise and running matched that visit total at 383,000, rising 5.7 percent, and carried an 11.7 percent hospitalization rate. Basketball rounded out the list with 366,000 visits, a 5.2 percent decline, and a 2.0 percent hospitalization rate.

Managing Attorney Jonathan Walner noted that falls rank among the costliest injuries nationally. He cited Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data showing roughly 3 million annual emergency room visits among older adults from falls alone. An average emergency room visit for a fall injury costs about $1,112, rising to $18,700 upon hospital admission. Including rehabilitation and follow-up care, the yearly national bill for older-adult fall injuries reaches approximately $80 billion, with Medicare covering about two-thirds of that amount.

Year-over-year changes among the top activities ranged from a 65.9 percent surge for floor slips to a 5.2 percent drop for basketball. Hospitalization rates varied widely, with floor slips at 31.1 percent and knife injuries at 1.8 percent. Everyday tasks consistently produced higher visit totals and, in several cases, higher admission shares than the sports included in the rankings.