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Elderly falls cut by 11 percent with education and intervention |
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From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Commonly viewed as an inevitable consequence of aging and often ignored in clinical practice, falls among the elderly were cut by 11 percent when researchers at Yale School of Medicine used a combination of fall prevention educational campaigns and interventions aimed at encouraging clinicians to incorporate fall-risk assessment and management into their practices. Published in the July 17 New England Journal of Medicine, the study also found that the fall prevention programs resulted in almost 10 percent fewer fall-related hip fractures and head injuries among the elderly, who receive their care from a broad range of health providers in the intervention area. The study targeted primary care physicians, rehabilitation specialists (physical and occupational therapists), home care nurses, hospital emergency room staff and other clinicians and providers. Tinetti and her team compared the rates of serious fall injury and health care related to falls among people age 70 and older in two regions of Connecticut. For four years, health care providers in the greater Hartford region were contacted as part of a multi-component program targeting poor balance, vision loss, medication use, improper footwear, and blood pressure drops upon standing. About 3,000 clinicians, administrators and policy experts in this region also received fall prevention information in the form of brochures, seminars, posters and patient education materials. We weren't expecting such great results because it can be difficult to adapt new strategies into patient care. Fall-related injuries are among the most common, disabling and expensive health conditions experienced by older adults. Falls account for 10 percent of emergency department visits and 6 percent of hospitalizations among those over age 65.
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