Research Article Critique The title of the research article I chose to critique is from the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. “Hypertension, orthostatic-hypotension, and the risk of falls in a community-dwelling elderly population: The maintenance of balance, independent living, intellect, and zest in the elderly Boston study”; this title fits well with the content presented in the research article. The independent variables are clearly defined as well as the dependent variables for the research being conducted. The content of the abstract is a very good overview of the content and it is consistent with the content. The abstract summarizes the objective, design, setting, participants, measurements, and results. Problem/Purpose …show more content…
The purpose “was to assess the association between hypertension, OH using multiple definitions, and their combination and the risk of recurrent falls in a community-dwelling elderly population” (Gangavati, et al., 2011, p. 384). The list of twenty eight references is used is this article. There are eight references dated up to ten years old, four references dated five years old or less, and sixteen references that are more than ten years old with one of them being twenty-three years old. The authors do very briefly summarize their review of the literature as to what is known and not known to the study. They do explain a need for further study from previous research with a lack of knowledge in definitions of orthostatic  hypertension presented. Framework/Theoretical Perspective The study is based upon a specific situation theory regarding the relationship between falls and changes in blood pressure of the elderly population older than seventy. The authors connect their theory to the study by demonstrating a connection between a change in systolic orthostatic hypotension and standing for one minute. This change in systolic orthostatic hypotension would prove to be increasing falls for the elder population with uncontrolled hypertension. Research Question(s) OR Hypotheses The hypothesis was that the risk of falls would be highest in people with uncontrolled hypertension and in those with orthostatic
The sample group involved 280 old people who were 79-90 years old and have a history of falling especially in the last 6 months. The intervention recommended was assigned one of the four controlled groups which applied different balance and strength exercise.
The following research question was addressed: What is the effect of falls in the older adults while hospitalized? CINAHL Complete and Google scholar databases were used to search for relevant quantitative research articles. CINAHL Complete was searched using words like “falls in older adults while inpatient”, “impact of falls in older adults while hospitalized”, falls in older adults”, “and falls in the hospital amongst older adults“, ” fall impact in older adults while hospitalized”. Google scholar databases was searched using keywords such as “impact of falls in hospitalized older adults”, “Fall in the older adults during hospitalization”, “effects of fall on older adults while hospitalized”. Quantitative research article published in English, where any author is a nurse, and adult subjects were analyzed; dates of publications for all articles were limited to the years between 2011–2016. The University of Texas at Arlington’s library site titled finding quantitative and qualitative research was used to evaluate the qualities of the research article to ensure quantitative articles were utilized. Research articles that were utilized were those that involve interventions focused on effects of falls in the older adults population while hospitalized. Multifactorial fall prevention programs, environmental, educational
In the article published by Sirkin and Rosner (2009), it was reported that 70% of individuals above the ages of 65 years have hypertension and approximately a third of them fall every year. It was found that hypertension and fall are common in elderly and coexist in most of the cases. It has been thought that the medication that the hypertensive elderly use put them at risks fall. For instance, it has been found that psychotropic agents, antidepressants, hypnotics, anticholinergic and anxiolytics cause falls in many patients. These drugs have been reported to have serious neurological and autonomic effects among the vulnerable individuals (Sirkin & Rosner, 2009). Due to the high correlation between falls and medication, organizations are encouraged to have pharmacy staff provide an ongoing review of patient medication regimens. Through the active participation of nurses, vulnerable patients should be identified and managed according to the required plan.
Falls are highly common amongst the elderly, particularly those who lack mobility, are in hospital, or are living in a nursing home. When an elderly person falls, their activities of daily living may be impacted due to injuries sustained from the fall. It is essential that precautions are put in place to prevent falls in all settings. This essay will discuss the statistics surrounding falls, prevention strategies, and the impacts of a fall on a patient’s ability to complete activities of daily living.
The paper will discuss falls prevention in the older adult over the age of 55 and new and alternative interventions for fall prevention compared to current practice. The desired outcome of the paper is to provide information for fall prevention and, therefore, decrease the occurrence of falls. First, in order to understand the importance falls have within the clinical setting, statistics showing the mortality, morbidity and financial impact should be understood. The occurrence of falls within the acute care setting is a growing problem among the elderly. The evidence shows that one in three people aged 65 or older will sustain a fall and that only half will report the fall to a caregiver (CDC, 2014). The number increases to one in two when the patient reaches the age of 80. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) defines a fall when a person unintentionally comes to rest on the ground or another lower level. Falls are not an inevitable part of aging, however, aging does influence such things as reduced mobility, comorbidities, and cognitive impairment which contribute to fall risk. Falls are one of the leading causes of injuries in the acute care setting. The injuries sustained from falls leads to increased hospital stay time and a chance for further injuries which may harm the patient (CDC, 2014). According to the CDC in 2013, 2.5 million people suffered a fall, of these falls 734,000 were hospitalized. The falls also resulted in 22,900 people dying from fall
Falling risks are increased in seniors with dementia, musculoskeletal disorders, neurologic conditions, vision and hearing loss, and those on multiple medications. Given this list, is it any wonder that more than 50
The study talks about the dilemma associated with hospital falls among aged population. Findings from this article shows that some factors make it easy for patients to experience falls. One of the aspects that causes falls could be from the patients’ medical situation. The author noted that the intake of certain drugs like Benzodiazepine and other psychotropic medications predisposes patients to fall. It was further noted from the study that some drugs used to cure patient’s ailments predisposes them to falls as it alters their physiology which affects their mobility. Suggestion from the study calls for the reduction of these medication that causes falls, as it was noted that its reduction leads to a 47% reduction of hospital falls.
This article was based upon using the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines to prevent falls from occurring. Caregivers should encourage patients to walk if they can even if it is just a short distance to maintain their ability. We should not rush them but be there for them during this time to provide reassurance. Orthostatic hypotension is an issue that many elderly patients experience in which we should allow adequate time for the patient to go from the sitting to standing positon to prevent a fall from occurring.
Fall among elderly population is a global public health problem which remains one of the leading cause of death and disability among older adults. Accidental fall occurs at least once a year among 30-40 percentage of general population over 65 and above. Ten to twenty five percentage of these fall can be resulted in substantial physical injuries. Quality of life can be affected after fall as a result of reduced physical activity and social interaction. During the last decade various intervention programs have been established to prevent or decrease the incidence of fall. Interventions such as exercise program, environmental and pharmaceutical interventions are beneficial in preventing fall among the elderly population (Tousignant, Corriveau,
Sitting down is a postural alteration that is done many times throughout the whole day as well as standing up. This task has been taken into account as a risk factor for falling in elderly population (Mourey et al., 1998; Dubost et al., 2005). Stroke survivors have high risk of falling more than healthy individuals not only in their acute stage, but also continues during the poststroke life span (Truelsen et al., 2006).
Falling is inevitable at some point in life, and although most of the time falls are not serious, some can be life-threatening. Falls are a danger to both physical and psychological well-being because they may diminish a person’s ability to maintain an active and independent lifestyle.1 There are many factors that place individuals at risk for falls such as age, muscle weakness, difficulty with balance or walking, psychological diagnosis, and several medical conditions.1,2 Approximately one-third of people over the age of 65 fall at least once a year.3 Individuals that are status post stroke are at an increased risk of falls, making falls assessment and prevention a common priority for clinicians treating this population.1,2 Therefore, to direct the experimental methods and build on a basis of previous literature on this topic, the search began using OneSearch, CINAHL, PubMed, and
Methods: A case control study of patients aged >65 years with an incident in-hospital fall during admissions under a General Internal Medicine Unit over a six month period was conducted. The relevant data were collected by review of medical records and analysed in univariate and multivariate models.
Orthostatic hypotension is the reduction of the systolic pressure of at least 20mmHG or the dropping of diastolic pressure of at least 10mmHg within three minutes of standing as compared to baseline as such, the body is often unable compensate for the changes in the blood pressure values (Fournier et al., 2016). The fall in the blood pressure is attributes to the fact that a small amount of blood collects in the leg veins when a person stands as a result of gravity hence reducing
Older adults like F.P. are exposed to conditions more often that could lead to a fall as compared to the younger individuals. There are several conditions that the 85-year-old F.P. is exposed to, and which could result in him experiencing a fall. The hearing, reflexes as well as the eyesight could be inefficient at this age, and this could increase his chances of falling. F.P. is also diabetic and suffers from a cardiopulmonary disease, asthma, and hypertension. These health conditions also elevate the possibility of a fall in the older adult. Some medicines used by the older adults also make them feel dizzy and hence could lead to a fall in these persons (Ambrose, Paul & Hausdorff, 2013). Other personal conditions include problems with
position, then their blood pressure would ne higher than when it was measured from the reclined