06/06/2024
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Just published 🔥 in JAMA
Interventions to Prevent Falls in Older Adults: Updated Evidence Report and Systematic Review for the US Preventive Services Task Force
📘 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38833257/
👉 Falls are common among older adults. In a 2018 survey, more than one-fourth of US older adults living in the community reported at least 1 fall in the past year. A serious fall in an older adult can result in injury (such as hip fracture) that causes decreased independence and decreased quality of life. The risk of falling increases with age for many reasons, including overall weakness and frailty; problems with balance, cognition, and vision; certain medications; acute illness; and other environmental hazards. Those who have fallen in the past are at high risk of falling again.
🤔 But how to prevent Falls in Older Adults?
👉 To answer this question, the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) reviewed many studies about interventions for older adults living in the community (not in a nursing home or other institutional care setting). These interventions include exercise therapy (such as working on gait, balance, and leg muscle strengthening), environmental assessments, medication reviews, and multifactorial interventions, which involve creating a customized plan based on individual risk factors. Among all of these interventions, exercise therapy was found to be most beneficial.
💡 The USPSTF recommends exercise interventions to prevent falls in community-dwelling adults aged 65 years or older who are at in-creased risk of falls.
💡 For multifactorial interventions, there may be a small benefit, and primary care clinicians should consider multifactorial interventions for patients at higher risk of falling on a case-by case basis.