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5 Helpful Ways to Reduce Injurious Falls in Older Adults

We receive regular daily e-newsletters from   Joule, a CMA Company, and this particular message caught our attention. 

Much of our focus here at Pacey MedTech is based on bringing freedom back to men who suffer from Male Urinary Incontinence by providing a tool (Pacey Cuff) and we felt it relevant to share this message with our audience.

We believe it is important to take a holistic approach to health, and the information outlined below fits well with our views. Happy reading!

Below is the message we received from   Joule:

Exercise alone and various combinations of interventions reduces the risk of injurious falls in older adults

Clinical question

Are there specific interventions that are effective in reducing the risk of injurious falls in older adults?

Bottom line

Exercise alone; exercise combined with vision assessment/treatment; exercise combined with vision assessment/treatment and environmental assessment/modification; and clinic-level quality improvement strategies combined with multifactorial assessment/treatment and calcium and vitamin D supplementation are all effective interventions for reducing the risk of injurious falls in older adults. (LOE = 1a)

Reference

Tricco AC, Thomas SM, Veroniki AA, et al. Comparisons of interventions for preventing falls in older adults. A systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA 2017;318(17):1687-1699.

POEMs stands for Patient-Oriented Evidence that Matters. POEMs is a publication of John Wiley and Sons, Inc. and distributed by Joule as a CMA Member service. All content is provided for information and education and not as a substitute for the advice of a physician. Joule assumes no responsibility or liability arising from any error or omission or from the use of any information contained herein.

Understanding these specific ways of preventing falls in older adults (and how current interventions work) is essential for making progress in older men's health, their day-to-day safety, and more freedom in their life in general.

Related:   11 Early Prostate Cancer Symptoms You Shouldn't Be Ignoring

However, you may have noticed that there can be a lot of information out there and most of it isn’t very simple to digest. To solve this problem and break things down in a very simple manner, we have created the list below:

1. Exercise

What are the physical and mental benefits of exercise for older adults?

  • Helps you maintain or lose weight
  • Reduces the impact of illness and chronic disease
  • Enhances mobility, flexibility, and balance
  • Improves sleep
  • Boosts mood and self-confidence 
  • Does amazing things for the brain

Learn more at by visiting this excellent resource, Physical Activity Guide for seniors.  

2. Exercise combined with Vision Assessment and Treatment

Studies show that this is the most effective intervention for injurious falls.

Why are vision assessments and treatments, when combined with exercise, valuable in avoiding injurious falls?

Vision changes occur as you get older, but these changes don't have to affect your lifestyle. Knowing what to expect and when to seek professional care can help you safeguard your vision.

Learn more about Adult Vision: Over 60 Years of Age and how to deal with vision loss here.

3. Exercise combined with Vision Assessment and Treatment and Environmental Assessment/Modification

Environmental assessment is a process to predict environmental effects of proposed initiatives before they are carried out.

An environmental assessment:

  • Identifies potential adverse environmental effects
  • Proposes measures to mitigate adverse environmental effects
  • Predicts whether there will be significant adverse environmental effects, after mitigation measures are implemented
  • Includes a follow-up program to verify the accuracy of the environmental assessment and the effectiveness of the mitigation measures

An environmental assessment is a planning and decision-making tool. The objectives of an environmental assessment are to:

You can read more from the Comparisons of Interventions for Preventing Falls in Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis HERE!

4. Clinic-level quality improvement strategies combined with multifactorial assessment/treatment.

Older adults should visit their doctor if none of the above points help in the prevention of injurious falls.

5. Calcium and Vitamin D supplementation are all effective interventions for reducing the risk of injurious falls in older adults.

In this   meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials, the use of supplements that included calcium, vitamin D, or both compared with placebo or no treatment was not associated with a lower risk of fractures among community-dwelling older adults. These findings do not support the routine use of these supplements in community-dwelling older people.

Resource: Association Between Calcium or Vitamin D Supplementation and Fracture Incidence in Community-Dwelling Older Adults

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