Nearly 6 million older Americans fall each year-report
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A survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates that 5.8 million adults aged 65 and older fell at least once in 2006, and for 1.8 million of these individuals, the resulting injury required a doctor visit or restricted activity.
“The effect these injuries have on the quality of life of older adults and on the US healthcare system reinforces the need for broader uses of scientifically-proven fall-prevention interventions,” investigators emphasize in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report for March 7. According to the report, one of the most effective interventions is exercise.
Prior research suggests that about one-third of older adults fall each year, and the risk markedly increases with advancing age. In 2005, nearly 16,000 fatal falls were reported among older adults.
There has been limited information, however, regarding the occurrence of falls that do not cause injury or cause only minor damage that can be managed in a doctor’s office or a clinic.
To gauge the full public health burden caused by falls in older adults, Dr. J. A. Stevens and colleagues analyzed data from the 2006 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey.
The survey, which was conducted in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and in selected US territories, included two questions about falls: “In the past 3 months, how many times have you fallen?” and “How many of these falls caused an injury?”
Almost 16 percent of adults surveyed reported falling at least once and roughly a third of those who fell were injured.
Men and women were equally likely to fall, with rates of 15.2 percent and 16.4 percent, respectively. However, women were significantly more likely than men to sustain an injury from their falls: 35.7 percent vs. 24.6 percent.
Vermont had the highest rate of falls at 20.1 percent, while Hawaii had the lowest at 12.8 percent, the report indicates.
“Modifiable fall risk factors” for falls include muscle weakness, gait and balance problems, poor vision, use of psychoactive medications, and home hazards, the CDC notes.
The most effective fall prevention interventions, according to the CDC, focus on exercise, alone or as a part of a multi-faceted approach that includes medication management, vision correction, and home modifications.
SOURCE: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, March 7, 2008.
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