Falls in older adults are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality and are a major class of preventable injuries. Falling is one of the most common accidents that cause a loss in the quality of life for older adults, and is usually precipitated by a loss of balance and weakness in the legs. The cause of falling in old age is often multifactorial and may require a multidisciplinary approach both to treat any injuries sustained and to prevent future falls. Falls include dropping from a standing position or from exposed positions such as those on ladders or stepladders. The severity of injury is generally related to the height of the fall. The state of the ground surface onto which the victim falls is also important, harder surfaces causing more severe injury. Falls can be prevented by ensuring that carpets are tacked down, that objects like electric cords are not in one's path, that hearing and vision are optimized, dizziness is minimized, alcohol intake is moderated and that shoes have low heels or rubber soles. A review of clinical trial evidence by the European Food Safety Authority led to a recommendation that people over the age of 60 years should supplement the diet with vitamin D to reduce the risk of falling and bone fractures. Falls are an important aspect of geriatric medicine.

Definition

Other definitions are more inclusive and do not exclude "major intrinsic events" as a fall. Falls are of concern within medical treatment facilities. Fall prevention is usually a priority in healthcare settings. A 2006 review of literature identified the need for standardization of falls taxonomy due to the variation within research. The Prevention of Falls Network Europe (ProFane) taxonomy for the definition and reporting of falls aimed at mitigating this problem. ProFane recommended that a fall be defined as "an unexpected event in which the participants come to rest on the ground, floor, or lower level." The ProFane taxonomy is currently used as a framework to appraise falls-related research studies in Cochrane Systematic Reviews.

Signs and symptoms

Causes

Falls are often caused by a number of factors. The faller may live with many risk factors for falling and only have problems when another factor appears. As such, management is often tailored to treating the factor that caused the fall, rather than all of the risk factors a patient has for falling. Risk factors may be grouped into intrinsic factors, such as existence of a specific ailment or disease. External or extrinsic factors include the environment and the way in which it may encourage or deter accidental falls. Such factors as lighting and illumination, personal aid equipment and floor traction are all important in fall prevention.

Intrinsic factors

Extrinsic factors

Diagnosis

When assessing a person who has fallen, an eyewitness account of the incident is helpful. However the person who fell may have been temporarily unconscious, and may not be able to give an accurate description of the fall. In practice, these eyewitness accounts are often unavailable.

Prevention

The relationship between the person at risk of falling and their environment is important for determining the risk falls and taking measures to prevent falls. An assessment with an occupational therapist may be helpful to determine an appropriate rehabilitation plan to prevent falls by taking into consideration both the person and their living environment. A large body of evidence shows that efforts to include exercise decrease the risk of falls, and yet the fear of falling can lead to a decrease in participation in physical exercise. Possible interventions to prevent falls include:

Environmental adaptations

Improvements to the person's environment such as their home or workplace may help to reduce the risk of falling.

Behavioural interventions

Psychological interventions

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been suggested as a prevention approach to improve confidence and help older people reduce the fear of falling. There is moderate evidence to suggest that this technique can be effective at reducing the fear of falling for up to and beyond 6 months. CBT appears to have a positive effect on activity avoidance and risk of depression; however, it is not clear whether CBT reduces the incidence of falls in older people.

Interventions to minimize the consequences of falls

Hospital

People who are hospitalized are at risk for falling. A randomized trial showed that use of a tool kit reduced falls in hospitals. Nurses complete a valid fall risk assessment scale. From that, a software package develops customized fall prevention interventions to address patients' specific determinants of fall risk. The kit also has bed posters with brief text and an accompanying icon, patient education handouts, and plans of care, all communicating patient-specific alerts to key stakeholders.

Screening

The American Geriatrics Society and the British Geriatrics Society recommend that all older adults should be screened for "falls in the past year". Fall history is the strongest risk factor associated with subsequent falls. Older people who have experienced at least one fall in the last 6 months, or who believe that they may fall in the coming months, should be evaluated with the aim of reducing their risk of recurrent falls. Many health institutions in the USA have developed screening questionnaires. Enquiry includes difficulty with walking and balance, medication use to help with sleep/mood, loss of sensation in feet, vision problems, fear of falling, and use of assistive devices for walking. Older adults who report falls should be asked about their circumstances and frequency to assess risks from gait and balance which may be compromised. A clinician perfoms a fall risk assessment, to include history, physical exam, functional capability, and environment.

Population-based interventions

Prevention approaches that target the whole population of older people in a particular area are defined as population-based interventions. These include policies put in place by governments for vitamin supplementation, maintenance programs to reduce risks in public spaces and homes, public health programs offering exercise classes and sharing resources widely (not just to people identified as being high risk), improving access to gyms (for example allowing seniors to access a gym for free if over a certain age). The evidence supporting population-based interventions is weak. It is not clear if population-based interventions that improve access to medications or nutritional program are effective.

Epidemiology

The incidence of falls increases progressively with age. According to the existing scientific literature, around one-third of the elderly population experience one or more falls each year, while 10% experience multiple falls annually. For people over 80, the annual incidence of falls can reach 50%.

History

Researchers have tried to create a consensual definition of a fall since the 1980s. Tinneti et al. defined a fall as "an event which results in a person coming to rest unintentionally on the ground or other lower level, not as a result of a major intrinsic event (such as a stroke) or overwhelming hazard."

Economics

The health care impact and costs of falls in older adults are significantly rising all over the world. The cost of falls is categorized into two aspects: direct cost and indirect cost. Direct costs are what patients and insurance companies pay for treating fall-related injuries. This includes fees for the hospital and nursing home, doctors and other professional services, rehabilitation, community-based services, use of medical equipment, prescription drugs, changes made to home and insurance processing. Indirect costs include the loss of productivity of family caregivers and long-term effects of fall-related injuries such as disability, dependence on others and reduced quality of life. In the United States alone, the total cost of falling injuries for people 65 and older was $31 billion in 2015. The costs covered millions of hospital emergency room visits for non-fatal injuries and more than 800,000 hospitalizations. By 2030, the annual number of falling injuries is expected to be 74 million older adults.

Research

Furthermore, a 2012 systematic review has demonstrated that performing dual-task tests (for example, combining a walking task with a counting task) may help in predicting which people are at an increased risk of a fall.