Falls of the Elderly - Related Resources

Cochrane reviews

Multifactorial interventions and exercise in subacute hospital settings, and vitamin D supplementation and multifactorial interventions provided by a multidisciplinary team in nursing care facilities, may be effective in reducing falls in older people Preventing Falls in Older People in Nursing Care Facilities and Hospitals.
Population-based interventions in the form of multi-strategy, multi-focused programmes may reduce injuries from falls in the elderly Population-Based Interventions for the Prevention of Fall-Related Injuries in Older People.
Exercise interventions in community-dwelling older people may reduce fear of falling to a limited extent immediately after the intervention, without increasing the risk or frequency of falls Exercise for Reducing Fear of Falling in Older People Living in the Community.

There is little evidence to recommend any interventions for reducing falls in the acute hospital setting Reducing Falls in Acute Hospitals.
High dose vitamin D supplementation reduces the risk of falls among older individuals by 20% Prophylactic Vitamin D to Reduce Falls in Older Persons.

Tinetti ME, Kumar C. The patient who falls: "It's always a trade-off". JAMA 2010 Jan 20;303(3):258-66. [PubMed]
Tinetti ME. Clinical practice. Preventing falls in elderly persons. N Engl J Med 2003 Jan 2;348(1):42-9. [PubMed]
Guideline for the prevention of falls in older persons. American Geriatrics Society, British Geriatrics Society, and American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Panel on Falls Prevention. J Am Geriatr Soc 2001 May;49(5):664-72. [PubMed]
Nurmi-Lüthje I, Kaukonen JP, Lüthje P, Naboulsi H, Tanninen S, Kataja M, Kallio ML, Leppilampi M. Use of benzodiazepines and benzodiazepine-related drugs among 223 patients with an acute hip fracture in Finland: Comparison of benzodiazepine findings in medical records and laboratory assays. Drugs Aging 2006;23(1):27-37. [PubMed]
Ziere G, Dieleman JP, Hofman A, Pols HA, van der Cammen TJ, Stricker BH. Polypharmacy and falls in the middle age and elderly population. Br J Clin Pharmacol 2006 Feb;61(2):218-23. [PubMed]
Lord S, Sherrington C, Menz H, Close J. Falls in Older People Risk Factors and Strategies for Prevention. Cambridge, Great United Kingdom. Cambridge University Press 2007
Järvinen TL, Sievänen H, Khan KM, Heinonen A, Kannus P. Shifting the focus in fracture prevention from osteoporosis to falls. BMJ 2008 Jan 19;336(7636):124-6. [PubMed]

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