Rapid Responses to:

RESEARCH: Jane Fleming, Carol Brayne and the Cambridge City over-75s Cohort (CC75C) study collaboration Inability to get up after falling, subsequent time on floor, and summoning help: prospective cohort study in people over 90 BMJ 2008; 337: a2227 [Abstract] [Full text]

Rapid Responses: Submit a response to this article

Rapid Responses published:

Big Problems in Elderly

Rizaldy Pinzon   (2 December 2008)

Big Problems in Elderly 2 December 2008
Rizaldy Pinzon, Neurologist Bethesda Hospital, Yogyakarta Indonesia 55224 Send response to journal: Re: Big Problems in Elderly	The article from Dr. Fleming is very interesting. Falls are a frequent cause of morbidity and mortality in the elderly. The risk factors are immobility (as measured by the Barthel index of neurological function), agitation, the need for frequent toileting, and visual impairment(1). Although a few falls have a single cause, the majority result from interactions between long-term or short-term predisposing factors and short-term precipitating factors in a person's environment This article confirms that patients with cognitive impairment and living alone have a greater risk. Because falls result from various combinations of factors, an effective and efficient clinical strategy for risk assessment and management must address many predisposing and precipitating factors. Some studies have been done for reducing the risk of falls. An exercise program reduces the risk of falls 39% (2) Integrated actions should be taken for fall preevention (3) It also recommends that elderly persons at high risk for falling receive individualized, multifactorial interventions in settings where adequate resources to deliver such services are available (4) References Oliver D et al. Development and evaluation of evidence based risk assessment tool (STRATIFY) to predict which elderly inpatients will fall: Case control and cohort studies. BMJ 1997 Oct 25 315 1049-1053. Campbell AJ et al. Randomised controlled trial of a general practice programme of home based exercise to prevent falls in elderly women. BMJ 1997 Oct 25 315 1065-1069. Robitaille, Y., Gauvin, L. (2008). Fall prevention in older adults: towards an integrated population-based perspective. Inj. Prev. 14: 147-148 Preventive Services Task Force. Guide to clinical preventive services: report of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. 2nd ed. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, 1996:659-85. Competing interests: None declared