Good for the elderly
These types of injuries can make it difficult for a person to move about, do routine tasks, or live independently. Falls can result in shattered bones such as wrist fractures, arm fractures, ankle fractures, and hip fractures. Falls can result in serious head injuries. These can be quite dangerous, especially if the individual is on certain medications (like blood thinners).
After all, falling is a terrifying experience. The majority of individuals are aware that falls are particularly harmful for older folks. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one in every five falls results in a serious injury, such as a fractured bone or a brain injury.
The consequences of a fall can be severe, including shattered bones and life-threatening diseases such as hip fractures and brain trauma, among others. Every year, over 2.8 million elderly citizens in the United States are admitted to emergency rooms due to falls, with 800,000 of them being hospitalized as a result.
Falls in the elderly are usually invariably the result of ″multifactorial″ causes. This indicates that there are typically a number of variables that contribute to a fall or increase a person’s risk of falling. At times, it might be difficult to attempt to handle every single element. Some of them, such as slower reflexes, may be hard to undo after they have occurred.
Injuries Caused by Slipping and Falling Fractures are the most frequent major injury caused by falls in older people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Falls, osteoporosis, and other characteristics that enhance susceptibility to injury are all factors that contribute to hip, wrist, humerus, and pelvic fractures in this age range, to name a few examples.
Senior citizens are at the greatest risk of death or serious injury as a result of falling, and the risk grows with age, according to research. Among elderly individuals who fall in the United States, for example, 20–30 percent have moderate to serious injuries, including bruising, hip fractures, and head trauma, whereas the rest sustain minor injuries.
Approximately 4.5 percent of senior patients (70 years and over) died as a result of a ground-level fall, compared to 1.5 percent of non-elderly patients, according to Cheng’s research.
Severe injuries, the possibility of fall-related anxiety, and financial instability as a result of medical costs and lost pay are the most significant effects of a slip and fall.
What are some of the factors that contribute to falls? Normal changes associated with age, such as deteriorating vision or hearing, might increase your risk of falling. Illnesses and physical ailments might impair your ability to maintain your balance and strength. Poor lighting or carpets on the floor in your house might increase your chances of tripping or slipping.
According to Mourey (2009), Post Fall Syndrome (also known as Psychomotor Regression Syndrome) is described as ″decompensation of the systems and mechanisms implicated in postural and walking automatisms.″ It manifests itself either insidiously as a result of an increase in frailty or brutally as a result of a trauma (fall) or an operation.
The age-adjusted fall death rate in older adults is 64 fatalities per 100,000 people over the age of 65. Between 2009 and 2018, the number of people who died in falls among persons aged 65 and older grew by around 30%. Thirty-one states and the District of Columbia reported a rise in the number of people.
Almost half of all fall-related fatalities were caused by head injuries, and 29.5 percent were caused by hip fractures. Disorders of the circulatory system (I00–I99) (47.4 percent) and diseases of the respiratory system (J00–J98) (47.4 percent) were the other two leading causes of fall-related fatalities (17.4 percent ).
What Causes Elderly Adults to Pass Away After Falling? Because it takes so much longer for an elderly person to recover from a fall, the likelihood of death following a fall in the elderly increases.
Despite the fact that both of these conditions are quite common among older persons, the association between falls and stroke is still poorly understood. Furthermore, only a few studies have addressed specific risk factors for falls in people who have had a stroke, as well as effective treatment techniques for falls prevention in people who have had a stroke.