Assessment and management of falls in older people

Keith Hill, J. Schwarz

Research output: Contribution to journalReview ArticleResearchpeer-review

48 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Falls remain a major cause of mortality and morbidity for older Australians, despite considerable growth in falls prevention activity in recent years. Risk factors for falls are well defined, and there is a growing evidence base from randomized controlled trials in community settings indicating a range of effective individual and multiple strategy interventions to reduce falls and falls injuries. These range from health promotion approaches, such as group exercise programmes, through to multidisciplinary, multifactorial interventions for high-risk populations. Practitioners need to utilize a range of strategies to enhance uptake and sustained participation in falls prevention activities. Future research needs to address important gaps, such as compliance issues, and interventions for people with cognitive impairment, dizziness and vision loss. Further research is also required in residential care and hospital settings, where there is relatively little research evidence to guide practice.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)557-564
Number of pages8
JournalInternal Medicine Journal
Volume34
Issue number9-10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2004
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Assessment
  • Elderly
  • Falls
  • Injury
  • Intervention

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