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Fall Prevention


 [1]

Physiotherapy for Fall Prevention




Prevalence
According to the statistics from Elderly Health Centre in 2017:
In 45000 community dwelling elders aged 65 or above, 10.1% experienced falls in last 6 months.

According to the Report of Unintentional Injury Survey 2018 by Department of Health, elderly injuries mainly caused by Fall

Report of Unintentional Injury Survey 2018 [2]

衛生署調查： [3]32 [3]萬人一年內最少受傷一次　獨居者家居損傷多非獨居者近兩倍 [3](19:00) - 20210818 - [3]港聞 [3]- [3]即時新聞 [3]- [3]明報新聞網 [3](mingpao.com) [3]


Risk factors of fall
The causes of falls are multifactorial, including age, sex, fear of falling, impaired cognition and sarcopenia [4].

Behavioral/Medical Conditions
(difficult to modify)		Physical Problems
(modifiable with proper rehabilitation)		Environmental Problems
(patient-specific advice)
Behavior:
  • Overestimate one's ability
  • low safety awareness
Sarcopenia
(i.e. muscle wasting and weakness)
  • Need to walk on stairs or steps
  • Lack of appropriate adaptations (e.g. rails in the toilet, stair rails)
  • Poor lighting, glare, shadows
  • Tripping hazards (e.g. rugs)
  • Inappropriate use of or refusal to use assistive device
  • Unsuitable clothing or footwear
  
Medicinal side effects:
  • Feel dizzy, prone to fall
  • Lethargic
  • Less alert
  • Slow or unstable movement
Balance Problems
  • Proprioception impairment
  • Vestibular problems
  • Inappropriate walking aids
  • Joint pain & deformities will also affect balance
  
Other medical conditions
  • Visual impairment
  • Dizziness- vestibular dysfunction
  • Incontinence
  • Comorbidities (e.g. Stroke, Parkinsonism, Cancer)

Consequences of fall



Source URL: https://www.hksh-hospital.com/en/physio-our-services/fall-prevention

Links
[1] https://www.hksh-hospital.com/en/physio-our-services/fall-prevention/physiotherapy-fall-prevention
[2] https://www.chp.gov.hk/files/pdf/report_of_unintentional_injury_survey_2018_tc.pdf
[3] https://news.mingpao.com/ins/%e6%b8%af%e8%81%9e/article/20210818/s00001/1629281467961/%e8%a1%9b%e7%94%9f%e7%bd%b2%e8%aa%bf%e6%9f%a5-32%e8%90%ac%e4%ba%ba%e4%b8%80%e5%b9%b4%e5%85%a7%e6%9c%80%e5%b0%91%e5%8f%97%e5%82%b7%e4%b8%80%e6%ac%a1-%e7%8d%a8%e5%b1%85%e8%80%85%e5%ae%b6%e5%b1%85%e6%90%8d%e5%82%b7%e5%a4%9a%e9%9d%9e%e7%8d%a8%e5%b1%85%e8%80%85%e8%bf%91%e5%85%a9%e5%80%8d
[4] https://physio.hksh.com/en/physio-our-services/what-is-sarcopenia