Age differences in fall‐related injury hospitalisations and trauma presentations

Mitchell, Robert J.; Curtis, Kate; Watson, Wendy L.; Nau, Thomas

doi:10.1111/j.1741-6612.2010.00413.x

Cited by 15 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 18 publications

(19 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Our study shows that falls at home affect all age groups, but are most common in the elderly [3, 6, 13, 14]. Sartini et al [3] reported slightly lower figures than ours, with 46.3% of all falls occurring at home.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 58%

“…Throughout the world, falls are a major public health problem and a socioeconomic burden [1–6]. Approximately one-third of the population over the age of 65 falls each year, rising to over 50% by the age of 80 [5, 7–10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Approximately one-third of the population over the age of 65 falls each year, rising to over 50% by the age of 80 [5, 7–10]. Falls and fall-related injuries are a major cause of disability and personal and professional impairment [3, 6–8]. According to the leading Swiss Accident Insurance provider (SUVA), the prevalence of falls in Switzerland is approximately 295,000 cases per year: 55,000 at work, 140,000 during leisure time, and 100,000 at home [11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Fall-Related Emergency Department Admission: Fall Environment and Settings and Related Injury Patterns in 6357 Patients with Special Emphasis on the Elderly

Pfortmueller

Kunz

Lindner

et al. 2014

The Scientific World Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Principals. Throughout the world, falls are a major public health problem and a socioeconomic burden. Nevertheless there is little knowledge about how the injury types may be related to the aetiology and setting of the fall, especially in the elderly. We have therefore analysed all patients presenting with a fall to our Emergency Department (ED) over the past five years. Methods. Our retrospective data analysis comprised adult patients admitted to our Emergency Department between January 1, 2006, and December 31, 2010, in relation to a fall. Results. Of a total of 6357 patients 78% (n = 4957) patients were younger than 75 years. The main setting for falls was patients home (n = 2239, 35.3%). In contrast to the younger patients, the older population was predominantly female (56.3% versus 38.6%; P < 0.0001). Older patients were more likely to fall at home and suffer from medical conditions (all P < 0.0001). Injuries to the head (P < 0.0001) and to the lower extremity (P < 0.019) occurred predominantly in the older population. Age was the sole predictor for recurrent falls (OR 1.2, P < 0.0001). Conclusion. Falls at home are the main class of falls for all age groups, particularly in the elderly. Fall prevention strategies must therefore target activities of daily living. Even though falls related to sports mostly take place in the younger cohort, a significant percentage of elderly patients present with falls related to sporting activity. Falls due to medical conditions were most likely to result in mild traumatic brain injury.

show abstract

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 58%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Fall-Related Emergency Department Admission: Fall Environment and Settings and Related Injury Patterns in 6357 Patients with Special Emphasis on the Elderly

Pfortmueller

Kunz

Lindner

et al. 2014

The Scientific World Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Alternatively, older adults are in general risk averse (Albert and Duffy, 2012; Tymula et al, 2013) and risk-sensitivity has been shown to influence sensorimotor control (Nagengast et al, 2010; O'Brien and Ahmed, 2015) and motor adaptation (Trent and Ahmed, 2013). Thus, it is possible that the aged motor system exploits prior experiences rather than exploring new movements to avoid risks such as falling, which have more serious consequences in old than young populations (Talbot et al, 2005; Mitchell et al, 2010). In sum, older adults need to accumulate a lot of evidence in a new environment before updating their movements possibly due to large sensory and motor noise or their fear of risks associated to movement exploration.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Explicit Action Switching Interferes with the Context-Specificity of Motor Memories in Older Adults

Sombric

Harker

Sparto

et al. 2017

Front. Aging Neurosci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Healthy aging impairs the ability to adapt movements to novel situations and to switch choices according to the context in cognitive tasks, indicating resistance to changes in motor and cognitive behaviors. Here we examined if this lack of “flexibility” in old subjects observed in motor and cognitive domains were related. To this end, we evaluated subjects' performance in a motor task that required switching walking patterns and its relation to performance in a cognitive switching task. Specifically, a group of old (>73 years old) and young subjects learned a new locomotor pattern on a split-belt treadmill, which drives the legs at different speeds. In both groups, we assessed the ability to disengage the walking pattern learned on the treadmill when walking overground. Then, we determined if this motor context-specificity was related to subjects' cognitive ability to switch actions in a set-shift task. Motor and cognitive behaviors were tested twice on separate visits to determine if age-related differences were maintained with exposure. Consistent with previous studies, we found that old adults adapted slower and had deficits in retention. Most importantly, we found that older subjects could not switch locomotor patterns when transitioning across walking contexts. Interestingly, cognitive switching performance was inversely related to subjects' ability to switch walking patterns. Thus, cognitive mediated switching interfered with locomotor switching. These findings were maintained across testing sessions. Our results suggest that distinct neural substrates mediate motor and cognitive action selection, and that these processes interfere with each other as we age.

show abstract

“…According to worldwide statistics in 2000, approximately 283,000 people were injured seriously from falls [1]. More than 50% of seniors with a history of falls experience them again [2], and 25% appear to have restrictions in their activities of daily living (ADL) due to physical injury and fear of falling.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disparity in the Fear of Falling Between Urban and Rural Residents in Relation With Socio-economic Variables, Health Issues, and Functional Independency

et al. 2013

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ObjectiveTo investigate disparities in the fear of falling between urban and rural communities in relation to socio-demographics, health status, and functional level.MethodsA total of 974 subjects aged 40 years or older participated in this study (335 urban residents and 639 rural). They completed a questionnaire about socio-demographics, health-related variables, and experience with falls. We employed both direct questioning and the Korean version of Falls Efficacy Scale-International (KFES-I) to investigate fear of falling in terms of perceptive fear and higher level of concern over falling during daily activities. The Korean version of Instrumental Activities of Daily Living was used to assess functional independency.ResultsAging, female gender, fall history, and the presence of chronic medical problems were independently associated with higher prevalence for the fear of falling. Both perceptive fear of falling and a higher level of concern over falling were more prevalent in the rural senior population compared with those in the urban population when they had the following characteristics: lower income or educational background, physical laborer or unemployed, no chronic medical morbidity, or functional independency in daily activities.ConclusionThe disparity in the fear of falling between the two areas is thought to be related to age structure, and it may also exist in healthy or functionally independent senior populations under the influence of socio-environmental factors. A senior population with lower socio-economic status residing in a rural area might be related with a greater vulnerability to the fear of falling. We should consider regional characteristics when we design fall-related studies or develop fall-prevention programs at the community level.

show abstract

Age differences in fall‐related injury hospitalisations and trauma presentations

Abstract: Falls, particularly for older individuals, are an important cause of serious injury, representing a considerable burden in terms of hospitalised morbidity.

Cited by 15 publications

References 18 publications

Fall-Related Emergency Department Admission: Fall Environment and Settings and Related Injury Patterns in 6357 Patients with Special Emphasis on the Elderly

Fall-Related Emergency Department Admission: Fall Environment and Settings and Related Injury Patterns in 6357 Patients with Special Emphasis on the Elderly

Explicit Action Switching Interferes with the Context-Specificity of Motor Memories in Older Adults

Disparity in the Fear of Falling Between Urban and Rural Residents in Relation With Socio-economic Variables, Health Issues, and Functional Independency

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About