Nutritional status and associations with falls,balance, mobility and functionality during hospital admission

Objectives  

To explore associations between nutritional status, falls and selected falls risk factors amongst older hospitalized people. Lengths of stay amongst fallers and the malnourished were assessed.     

Falls’ and fallers’ profiles

Objective  

To describe the different falls typology and to investigate whether different falls profiles and faller profiles could be identified among a cohort of community-dwelling women aged 75 years and older.     

Falls Assessment Clinical Trial (FACT): design,interventions, recruitment strategies and participant characteristics

Background  

Guidelines recommend multifactorial intervention programmes to prevent falls in older adults but there are few randomised controlled trials in a real life health care setting. We describe the rationale, intervention, study design, recruitment strategies and baseline characteristics of participants in a randomised controlled trial of a multifactorial falls prevention programme in primary health care.     

World Health Organization fracture risk assessment tool in the assessment of fractures after falls in hospital

Background  

Falls are very common accidents in a hospital. Various risk factors and risk assessment tools are used to predict falls. However, outcomes of falls such as bone fractures have not been considered in these risk assessment tools, and the performance of risk assessment tools in a Japanese hospital setting is not clear.     

Spatial analysis of falls in an urban community of Hong Kong

Background  

Falls are an issue of great public health concern. This study focuses on outdoor falls within an urban community in Hong Kong. Urban environmental hazards are often place-specific and dependent upon the built features, landscape characteristics, and habitual activities. Therefore, falls must be examined with respect to local situations.     

Risk factors for falling in community-dwelling older adults: Which of them are associated with the recurrence of falls?

Background  

The aim of the study was to determine which risk factors were associated with the recurrence of falls among community-dwelling older adults.     

Association between benzodiazepines and recurrent falls: A cross-sectional elderly population-based study

Background  

While the association between benzodiazepines (BZD) and single fall is long-known, the association between BZD and recurrent falls has been few studied.     

Timed Up and Go test and risk of falls in older adults: a systematic review

Objective  

To assess the association and the predictive ability of the Timed Up and Go test (TUG) on the occurrence of falls among people aged 65 and older.     

The population approach to falls injury prevention in older people: findings of a two community trial

Background  

There is a sound rationale for the population-based approach to falls injury prevention but there is currently insufficient evidence to advise governments and communities on how they can use population-based strategies to achieve desired reductions in the burden of falls-related injury. The aim of the study was to quantify the effectiveness of a streamlined (and thus potentially sustainable and cost-effective), population-based, multi-factorial falls injury prevention program for people over 60 years of age.     

Falls in young,middle-aged and older community dwelling adults: perceived cause,environmental factors and injury

Background  

Falls in older people have been characterized extensively in the literature, however little has been reported regarding falls in middle-aged and younger adults. The objective of this paper is to describe the perceived cause, environmental influences and resultant injuries of falls in 1497 young (20–45 years), middle-aged (46–65 years) and older (> 65 years) men and women from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study on Aging.     

Changes in serum magnesium and phosphate in older hospitalised patients — Correlation with muscle strength and risk factors for refeeding syndrome

Objectives  

To evaluate changes in serum magnesium and phosphate over time in hospitalised older patients, examine whether such changes were associated with changes in muscle strength, and assess whether risk factors for refeeding syndrome were associated with falls in serum magnesium and phosphate.     

Supervised Balance Training and Wii Fit–Based Exercises Lower Falls Risk in Older Adults With Type 2 Diabetes

Objectives

This study examined the benefits of and differences between 12 weeks of thrice-weekly supervised balance training and an unsupervised at-home balance activity (using the Nintendo Wii Fit) for improving balance and reaction time and lowering falls risk in older individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Dietary protein intake and subsequent falls in older men and women: The Framingham study

Background  

Poor nutritional status is often present among older adults who experience a fall. However, dietary intake and weight loss are often overlooked as potential factors. The objective of this study was to test the association between dietary protein intake and risk of subsequent falls in a population-based cohort of elderly men and women.     

Adequacy and change in nutrient and food intakes with aging in a seven-year cohort study in elderly women

Objective  

As women age total dietary intake falls which may increase the risk of dietary deficiencies in some individuals. The aims of this study were to investigate the changes in nutrient and dietary intakes that occurred with aging in a seven-year longitudinal study of elderly Australian women and to evaluate the adequacy of their dietary intakes.     

Vitamin D status in relation to postural stability in the elderly

Objectives  

Postural instability (PI) is an important risk factor for falls, especially in the frail older population. In this study, we investigated the impact of vitamin D deficiency on PI in a sample of community dwelling older subjects. Our objective was to determine the potential association between vitamin D deficiency and PI in older fallers.     

Costs of screening children for hearing disorders and delivery of hearing aids in China

Background  

The burden of disease of hearing disorders among children is high, but a large part goes undetected. School-based screening programs in combination with the delivery of hearing aids can alleviate this situation, but the costs of such programs are unknown.     

A heart failure self-management program for patients of all literacy levels: A randomized, controlled trial [ISRCTN11535170]

Background  

Self-management programs for patients with heart failure can reduce hospitalizations and mortality. However, no programs have analyzed their usefulness for patients with low literacy. We compared the efficacy of a heart failure self-management program designed for patients with low literacy versus usual care.     

Computer-tailored physical activity behavior change interventions targeting adults: a systematic review

Background  

Increasing physical activity is important in the promotion of better health. Computer-tailored behavior change programs have shown promise in changing lifestyle risk factors.     

The relationship between risk factors for falling and the quality of life in older adults

Background  

Falls are one of the major health problems that effect the quality of life among older adults. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between quality of life (Short Form-12) and the risk factors of falls (balance, functional mobility, proprioception, muscle strength, flexibility and fear of falling) in older adults.