Falls In The Elderly

In a classic definition, falls are untoward events which result in the person coming to rest unintentionally on the ground or another lower surface (Bok, et al., 2015). Falls, can be a devastating source of morbidity and mortality for the older adult. According to a Center for Disease Control (CDC) Report, “Falls Among the Older Adult,” more than one third of adults aged 65 and older fall each year in the United States and falls are the leading cause of injury deaths. Falls are also the most common cause of nonfatal injuries and hospital admissions for trauma in the older adult population (CDC Report). Unfortunately, the rate of fall-related deaths

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

Falls are a serious problem on a national and global level, but falls do not have to be a fact of life in the aging process. Falls are almost entirely preventable. The topic of falls prevention was chosen as my research question for study due to several reasons. The first is that falls represent a serious problem for the aging community. Secondly, falls are preventable. Something can be done to reduce the number of falls experienced by elderly persons.

Falls are triggered by multifaceted factors with numerous dangers that include either long or short term influencing factors. The connections between these factors may be altered by the person?s age, ailments, illnesses, diagnoses such as Parkinson?s, stroke, diabetes mellitus and arthritis, or their surroundings. The major fall risk factors for elderly include their advancing age, loss of muscle strength, unsteady gait, impaired balance, incontinence of bowel or bladder, depression, cognitive impairment, due to

In the peer reviewed article Management of Falls in Community- Dwelling Older Adults, the authors clearly explain how an individualized patient assessment must be done to identify potential fall risk factors. Medical history of the patient, body functions, activities, participation and cognition are some of the aspects to take in consideration regarding an old adult health care. Beside those factors, environmental hazard is one of the most common causes of falling in old people even when they are healthy (Avin, Keith G, ; Hanke, Timothy A; Kirk-Sanchez, Neva; McDonough, Christine M; Shubert, Tiffany E; et al, Jun 2015). Because elderly

Falls in the elderly is a health risk priority (Crisp & Taylor. Pg. 235). People aged 65 and over are at most risk as falls can often result in morbidity, mortality and injury

Summary: Falls and related injuries are a major concern among elderly people. In Finland, more than 1000 elderly people die due to a fall-related injury every year, which is four times more than the people died in traffic accidents. Fall prevention is necessary for older people since falls are main risk factors for fractures and other correctable injuries. Falls clinics use guidelines of multifactoral fall prevention interventions to assess and implement elderly people of fall prevention. The study was conducted at the Chaos Clinic located in the city of Tampere,

Falls is the leading cause of injuries among older adult; however, falls should not be an inevitable result of aging. Falls affect not only on an older individual’s independence and well-being but also personal and the nation financial. It is important that older adults are aware of how to prevent themselves from falling. Health care providers play a crucial role in falls prevention. Providers should perform gait and balance screening older adults 65 years and older for falls risk at least once a years and should pay more particular attention to individuals who have history of falling. Additionally, older adults have a higher tendency of taking multiple medications, providers should review their older patients’ medication regimen periodically because some medication can increase risk for falls. Exercise is found to have a positive impact on preventing falls. Providers should encourage older patients to start exercise program to increase strength and improve body balance.

Injuries and death from falls tend to be more severe as people age, depending on a number of personal characteristics and other combining risk factors. A study to assess risk factors determined that cognitive impairment, disability of lower extremities, reflex, abnormality of balance, and foot problems influence the probability of a fall. The chances of falling increased as the number of risk factors increased. Individuals with no factors had an 8% chance of falling compared to 78% with four or more risk

Polypharmacy in the elderly is a concern identified through research in the US and in other parts of the world. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2010) reported that when assess the percentage of American using multiple prescription drugs in a month in 2007-2008, older adults, age sixty and over, were the highest with 76% using two or more prescribed drugs and 37% using five or more. In other words, prescription drug used seems to increase with age. In 2013, the CDC reported that between the years of 2007-2010, 50% of the

Through this information it is clearly see that older people, ages 65+ are at highest risk of falling when in the home environment. This is profoundly due to the individuals being more active with less support. Activities include cook, cleaning, dressing and cleansing self which all vital to maintain balanced ‘Activities of living’.

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,

This article identifies that falls in the elderly patients is common on patients admitted to nursing homes and hospitals. They provided data explaining the severity of the problem. The authors the explained the risk factors that contribute to patents falls while receiving treatment. They concluded that the major risk factors for falls include previous fall history (3.06), use of assistive devices (2.08), and moderate disability (1.00). They also identified other factors that either reduces or contributes to falls. Other factors identified includes; balance and muscle weakness. The proposal from this article is that patients who are qualified for the three major risk factors should be closely monitored while admitted in the hospital or care

The risk of falling dramatically increases as one ages. According to Menant et al, a fall is defined as an “unexpected event in which the person comes to the ground, floor, or lower level”. In this study conducted by Menant et al, the authors desired to distinguish certain factors that may contribute to falls associated with the elderly.