Search results for ‘Subject term:"older people"’ Sort:
Results 1 - 10 of 62
The ABC scale and fall risk: a systematic review
- Authors:
- STASNY Bernadette Marie, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Physical and Occupational Therapy in Geriatrics, 29(3), September 2011, pp.233-242.
- Publisher:
- Informa Healthcare
This systematic review focuses on the Activities-specific Balance Confidence (ABC) scale in order to assess how well it predicts falls in older adults living in the community. The evidence is from only three studies, all of which were judged to be good quality. The results suggest that the ABC scale is a useful measure of balance confidence in older adults, but research on its ability to predict falls is limited. Large, longer-term, prospective studies are needed.
Preventing falls: how to monitor risk and intervene
- Author:
- -
- Journal article citation:
- Nursing and Residential Care, 13(2), February 2011, pp.82-84.
- Publisher:
- MA Healthcare Ltd.
- Place of publication:
- London
Highlights what care homes can do to prevent falls in their older residents. The article looks at possible risks and preventive interventions such as physical exercise.
National Falls Awareness Day
- Author:
- HOLMES Pamela
- Journal article citation:
- Working with Older People, 9(2), June 2005, pp.11-14.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
National Awareness Day was launched on 19th July 2005. The aims of this day was to promote positive activities that older people could participate in to reduce their risk of falling. The day was open to anyone with an interest in falls and provided an opportunity to to plan an event with local practitioners and older people. This article reports on the major reasons and the aims behind the day. It discusses how research into fall prevention revealed that positive activities such as exercise tended to be a successful method in engaging older people in fall awareness rather than hazard advise. Guidelines set out by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) are also highlighted. Provides a list of other information and resources regarding this topic.
Literature review and meta-analysis of risk factors for delayed post-traumatic stress disorder in older adults after a fall
- Author:
- BLOCH Frederic
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 32(2), 2017, pp.136-140.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Objective: To test the hypothesis that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can appear after a fall and try to identify predictive factors for its development in older fallers. Methods: Systematic literature review and meta-analyses of studies on PTSD post fall in older subjects. Results: One hundred seventy-seven indexed articles were identified, of which three had complete data on PTSD post fall in older subjects. Only the odds ratio of the association between history of fall and occurrence of PTSD was significant. Conclusion: The trend in the results, even though limited, reveals two groups of subjects: frail subjects that are at risk of developing PTSD and subjects who seem to be resistant to its development. A clear description of these two groups may help identify the population at risk for delayed PTSD who could then benefit from dedicated treatment. (Edited publisher abstract)
Do prescribed medicines affect falls risk?
- Author:
- PARKIN Angela
- Journal article citation:
- Nursing Times, 111(25), 2015, p.25.
- Publisher:
- Nursing Times
Falls and fall related injuries are a common problem for older people. This article comments on evidence from a Swedish population-based, case-controlled study (See related link from the European Journal of Public Health), which has reconsidered the risk of falls associated with commonly prescribed medicines. (Edited publisher abstract)
The role of cognitive impairment in fall risk among older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis
- Authors:
- MUIR Susan W., GOPAUL Karen, ODASSO Manuel M. Montero
- Journal article citation:
- Age and Ageing, 41(3), 2012, pp.299-308.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
The results of this systematic review and meta-analysis of 26 prospective studies provide strong evidence that cognitive impairment, assessed using global measures of cognition, are associated with serious fall-related injury although there is no agreement on threshold values. Impairment in executive functioning is also associated with increased risk of falls even when global cognitive status is within normal limits and should be included in falls risk evaluations in older people.
Depression as a predictor of falls amongst institutionalized elders
- Authors:
- WANG Yun-Chang, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 16(6), August 2012, pp.763-770.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
This study investigated the effects of medical condition and depression status on fall incidents amongst institutionalised older people. A cross-sectional study was carried out in New Taipei City, Taiwan to investigate the fall history of institutionalised older people involving 286 subjects. Experiences of falls over the previous year were recorded, with at least two falls during the prior one-year period, or one injurious fall defined as ‘fallers’. Depression was found to have enhanced effects with various medical conditions on fall risk. As compared with the non-depressive reference group, a five-fold fall risk was discernible amongst depressed older people with multiple medications, whilst a six-fold risk was found amongst those using ancillary devices, along with a 11-fold amongst those with neural system diseases. In conclusion, depressed older people with neural system diseases, using ancillary devices or multiple medications, should be specifically listed as very high risk of falling amongst institutionalised older people.
Determinants of disparities between perceived and psychological risk of falling among elderly people: cohort study
- Authors:
- DELBAERE Kim, et al
- Journal article citation:
- British Medical Journal, 28.8.10, 2010, p.436.
- Publisher:
- British Medical Association
This study investigated older people’s fear of falling by exploring the prevalence and determinants of perceived fall risk (measured by the falls efficacy scale international) and physiological fall risk (measured by the physiological profile assessment) and to understand the role of disparities in perceived and physiological risk in the cause of falls. It was found that many elderly people underestimated or overestimated their risk of falling. These disparities were primarily associated with psychological measures and strongly influenced the probability of falling. It is concluded that measures of both physiological and perceived fall risk should be included in fall risk assessments to allow tailoring of interventions for preventing falls in elderly people.
Constructions of frailty in the English language, care practice and the lived experience
- Author:
- GRENIER Amanda
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 27(3), May 2007, pp.425-445.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
The way frailty is conceptualised and interpreted has profound implications for social responses, care practice and the personal experience of care. This paper begins with an exegesis of the concept of frailty, and then examines the dominant notions of frailty, including how ‘frailty’ operates as a ‘dividing-practice’ through the classification of those eligible for care. The definitions and uses of ‘frailty’ in three discursive locations are explored in: (a) the Oxford English Dictionary, (b) the international research literature, and (c) older women's accounts of their lived experience. Three distinctive discourses are found, and applying a Foucauldian analysis, it is shown that the differences reflect overlaps and tensions between biomedical concepts and lived experiences, as well as negative underlying assumptions and ‘subjugated knowledge’. The concept of frailty represents and orders the context, organisational practices, social representations and lived experiences of care for older people. The evidence suggests that if, as the older women's accounts recommended, socially- and emotionally-located expressions of frailty were recognised in addition to the existing conceptions of risk of the body, frailty might no longer be thought of primarily as a negative experience of rupture and decline. To encourage this change, it is suggested that practice focuses on the prevention of frailty and associated feelings of loss, rather than reinforcing the feelings and experiences which render a person ‘frail’.
Defining a fall and reasons for falling: comparisons among the views of seniors, health care providers, and the research literature
- Authors:
- ZECEVIC Aleksandra A., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Gerontologist, 46(3), June 2006, pp.367-376.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
The purpose of this Canadian study was (a) to obtain information about the perceptions held by seniors and health care providers concerning what constitutes a fall and potential reasons for falling, and (b) to compare these perceptions to the research literature. As part of a larger telephone survey, interviewers asked 477 community-dwelling seniors to define a fall and to provide reasons for falling. In addition, 31 health care providers from the community were interviewed on the same topics. In order to capture patterns in conceptualized thinking, content analysis was used to develop codes and categories for a fall definition and reasons for falling. Selected articles were reviewed in order to obtain a comprehensive overview of fall definitions currently used in the research and prevention literature. The results found that a fall had different meanings for different groups. Seniors and health care providers focused mainly on antecedents and consequences of falling, whereas researchers described the fall event itself. There were substantial differences between the reasons for falling as reported by seniors and the risk factors as identified in the research literature. The authors conclude that if not provided with an appropriate definition, seniors can interpret the meaning of a fall in many different ways. This has the potential to reduce the validity in studies comparing fallers to nonfallers. Research reports and prevention programs should always provide an operational definition of a fall. In communication between health care providers and seniors, an appropriate definition increases the possibility for early detection of seniors in greater need of care and services.