Is Falls Fatal And Non Fatal Injuries?

Current literature has exposed many risk factors for falls. There are both intrinsic risk factors and extrinsic risk factors. Intrinsic risk factors include changes that come with age, such as gait issues, urinary incontinence, and fear of falling. Extrinsic risk factors include those that are related to the physical environment such as improper use of assistive devices and poor floor surfaces. No matter the type of risk factor, it is crucial to conduct a risk assessment when trying to prevent falls from occurring. Pearson and Coburn (2011) found that identifying risk factor for falls will help identify appropriate prevention strategies. Fall risk assessments help determine Talk about

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) reported that more than one third of adults 65 and older fall each year. Half of the elderly people, who fall, do so repeatedly. Aside from the health problems related to falls, nearly $20 billion of direct medical costs are associated with fatal and non-fatal falls (Larson & Bergmann, 2008).

Every year, about one third of everyone over the age of 65 falls, and do not report it to their doctors. Falls are the leading cause of fatal and nonfatal injuries in older people (Falls Among Older Adults). Falls become more common as people age because their bones become more brittle and their muscle mass decreases. In society today, the baby boomers are aging, which means falls will continue to increase in frequency. When a person falls, it doesn’t just affect the victim; it affects everyone. In 2012, approximately $30 billion went towards medical costs that were associated with falls (Falls Among Older Adults). To prevent more people being injured and more money being spent, there has to be a change.

Falls among any individual can cause significant trauma, often leading to an increase in mortality. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2012), one in every three adults over the age of 65 falls each year. Long-term care facilities account for many of these falls, with an average of 1.5 falls occurring per nursing home bed annually (Vu, Weintraub, & Rubenstein, 2004). In 2001, the American Geriatric Society, British Geriatric Society, and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Panel on Falls Prevention published specific guidelines to prevent falls in long-term

The widespread falls among the geriatric population reduce their quality of life and take away their functional independence. Lee et al (2013) state that falls leads to the rise in mortality rates and morbidity complications such as fractures and disabilities,1 out of 3 elderly persons in a community setting falls in a year. About 87% of all fractures in the elderly are due to falls. Several of the risk factors that are associated with falls are visual impairments, cognitive impairments, and health-related problems: arthritis, orthostatic, back pains, lack of balance-weakening muscles, previous falls, polypharmacy or psychoactive drugs (Lee et al, 2013).

The incidence of fall-related injuries in the elderly U.S. population will continue to increase (Quigley, Neily, Watson, Wright, & Strobel, 2017).

Falls are a common and complex geriatric syndrome that cause considerable mortality, morbidity, reduced functioning, and premature nursing home admissions. Falls have multiple precipitating causes and predisposing risk factors, which make their diagnosis, treatment, and prevention a difficult clinical challenge. Identifying effective interventions to prevent falls and fall-related injuries among older adults is a major area of research and policy development in geriatrics. Several published clinical guidelines review the evidence for fall prevention strategies and provide recommendations for assessment and intervention (Rubenstein & Josephson, 2006).

In USA, one in three adults over age 65 suffer fall while 20% to 30% experience moderate to severe injuries (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010). In 2010, the cost of falls among elderly people for US health care system was over $30 billion (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010). Over the last few decades the rate of fall related deaths in USA has sharply been escalating. Many older adults have developed the fear of falling, limiting their social activity and forcing them to live in fear. Some adults suffer lacerations, fracture and trauma during fall, deteriorating their quality of life.

Falls are the leading cause of emergency room visits and unintentional death in Americans 65+ years old. (Centers For Disease Control & Prevention)

“In the United Sates, unintentional falls are the most common cause of nonfatal injuries for people older than 65 years (Hughes, 2008).” This illustrates a problem that requires addressing. “Rates of falls vary across hospitals and units however, the highest rates are found in neuroscience (6.12-8.83/1000 patient days) and medical (3.48-6.12 falls/1000 patient days) units” (Mion, 2014). Older adults are usually those most affected and their falls are

Falls are considered a leading cause of mortality and injury among older adults and majority of the falls occurs while hospitalized. One would think being in the hospital would be one of the safest places for older adults as far as fall prevention is concern due to the fact that hospitals provide staffing around the clock for patients but more and more falls have been occurring in the hospital especially in the older adult population. Fall is an unintended descent to the ground. It raises public and family care liability; it also decreases patient’s functioning because it causes pain and suffering, and increases medical costs (Saverino et al, 2015). The Center for Disease Control

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

A fall is a lethal event that results from an amalgamation of both intrinsic and extrinsic factors which predispose an elderly person to the incident (Naqvi et al 2009). The frequency of hospital admission due to falls for older people in Australia, Canada, UK and Northern Ireland range from 1.6 to 3.0 per 10 000 population (WHO 2012). The prevalence of senior citizen’s falls in acute care settings varies widely and the danger of falling rises with escalating age or frailty. Falls of hospitalized older adults are one of the major patient safety issues in terms of morbidity, mortality, and decreased socialization

Risk factors for falls are categorized by intrinsic or extrinsic (Tzeng, & Yin, 2009). According to Tzeng and Yin (2008), intrinsic factors, referring to the patient themselves, are related to their health status and possibly associated with age-related changes: previous falls, reduced vision, unsteady gait, musculoskeletal system deficits, mental status deficits, acute illness, and chronic illness. Extrinsic factors are involved in the patient’s environment, including medications, lack of support equipment, furniture, bathroom designs, small patient rooms, poor lighting, and improper use of and inadequate assistive devices. Tzeng & Yin (2008; 2009) focused on the extrinsic risk factors for the basis of their studies.

Falls are a common cause of death for people over the age of 65. Following accidents, fall related mortality rate has relatively stayed constant over the last four decades. The dementia disorder continues to add an increase in fall-risk. Despite their knowledge