Low Cost State Program Drastically Lowers Falls Among Seniors

A new study reveals that a low-cost program focusing on fall prevention drastically reduces such incidences among seniors.

Researchers at University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health Study revealed that there was a 17 percent drop state wide in the rate of falls among the elderly due to a low cost fall- prevention program.

In order to determine the effectiveness of the state's voluntary fall-prevention program called Healthy Steps for Older Adults, the Pitt Public Health researchers followed nearly 2,000 older adults from the region of Pennsylvanian between 2010-2011.

"There is a high prevalence of falls among people 65 and older that increases with age, as does the inability to get up after a fall," lead author Steven Albert, Ph.D., chairman of the Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences at Pitt Public Health, said in a news statement.

It is a real challenge for the health officials to lower the rate of falls among seniors without actually emphasizing on the need for reduced physical activity. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics state that every year one in three adults aged 65 and older fall.

Nearly 20-30 percent of those who fall suffer moderate to severe injuries making it difficult for them to survive independently. This indirectly increases the risk of early death among the victims. CDC estimated that by 2020, the annual direct and indirect costs of fall injuries may soar to $67.7 billion.

The Pennsylvania Department of Aging runs the Health Steps for Older Adults. In this program they offer risk screening for falls along with educational data regarding fall prevention in adults of ages 50 and above. Those who are identified as high risk for falls are referred to the primary care providers and are encouraged to complete the home safety assessments in order to lower the hazards at home that place them at a greater risk for falls.

Dr. Albert selected 814 older adults at senior centers to finish the program. They then compared these adults with the 1,019 adults who did not attend the program.  The average age of participants was 75.4 years.

Among the participants who completed the program and were regarded as at high risk for falls,  around  21.5 percent followed up with their physicians, over three-quarters of them conducted home safety assessments and a third worked on reducing the hazards at home.

"Though further analyses will be necessary to understand specifically how these actions translated into a 17 percent reduction in falls, it appears that referrals for physician care and home safety assessments, along with informing older adults of their high-risk status and heightening their sensitivity to situations involving a risk of falling, may lead to reductions in falls," said Dr. Albert.

The study is published in the issue of American Journal of Public Health.