Interventions for preventing falls in elderly people

Abstract

Oliver, D., Healey, F. (2009) Falls risk prediction tools for hospital inpatients: do they work? Nursing Times; 105: 7, 18-21. A fall is the most reported safety incident in inpatients and occurs in all adult clinical areas. There is growing interest in prevention strategies and, as part of this, in risk assessment tools. These may be useful if the aim is to flag up common risk factors or causes of falls and prompt interventions that are actually delivered. Tools that claim to predict patients' risk of falling as 'high' or 'low' do not work well and may provide false reassurance that 'something is being done'. Falls prevention should focus on a wider range of actions at the level of patients and across organisations.

Integrating the ecological approach in health promotion for older adults: a survey of programs aimed at elder abuse prevention, falls prevention, and appropriate medication use

“…In Canada, they are by far the most frequent cause of serious injury among those seniors who have experienced an injury that limits their activities: two-thirds of the most serious injuries among those 65 to 74 are attributed to falls; this climbed to 80 % among those 75 and older [29]. Various forms of ecological interventions are effective in preventing falls in the elderly [30]. Appropriate medication use: Polypharmacy, the excessive prescription and self-administration of medications, continues to be a signifi cant issue in geriatrics and gerontology [31].…”

What Type of Exercise Reduces Falls in Older People?

“…Our findings update those of previous systematic reviews of falls prevention interventions by other authors, but the overall findings concerning exercise programs are similar. 5,14,58,59 …”

Stürze und Sturzrisikofaktoren

“…Krafttraining fördert den Muskelaufbau, Koordinations-und Balanceübun-gen haben nachgewiesene Effekte bei der Senkung der Sturzrate im Alter [7]. In der HNO-Heilkunde können Konzepte des vestibulären Kompensationstrainings zur Sturzprophylaxe genutzt werden [9,28,29].…”