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Risk Factors for Falls in the Elderly

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Medication-Related Falls in Older People

Abstract

Falls can have significant impact on older adults including fractures and decreased quality of life. Individuals who are 65 years and older have a 30 % chance of falling per year, and this increases up to 37 % in those 80 years or older. In the community-dwelling older adult, various risk factors can contribute to falling. This chapter reviews the literature on risk factors for falling.

This chapter focuses on high-quality systematic reviews including adults aged 60 years and older. Reviews were assessed using A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) and rated as high quality if they scored 7 or more out of 11. Thirteen systematic reviews were included. When assessing an older adult for falls, risk factors that encompasses extrinsic and intrinsic factors should be considered.

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Abbreviations

ADL:

Activities of daily living

AMSTAR:

A measurement tool to assess systematic reviews

CI:

Confidence interval

OR:

Odds ratio

RR:

Relative risk

References

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Andrew Tang and Luxey Sirisegaram who helped with the initial research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section of Geriatrics, Department of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada

    E. Kwan MD, FRCPC & S. Straus MD, MSc, FRCPC, HBSc

  2. Division of Geriatrics, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    J. Holroyd-Leduc MD, FRCPC

Authors
  1. E. Kwan MD, FRCPC
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  2. S. Straus MD, MSc, FRCPC, HBSc
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  3. J. Holroyd-Leduc MD, FRCPC
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to E. Kwan MD, FRCPC .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Ottawa and The Ottawa Hospital, Head, Division of Geriatric Medicine University of Ottawa and The Ottawa Hosp, Montréal, Québec, Canada

    Allen R. Huang

  2. Head, Faculty of Pharmacy Université de Montréal, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada

    Louise Mallet

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Kwan, E., Straus, S., Holroyd-Leduc, J. (2016). Risk Factors for Falls in the Elderly. In: Huang, A., Mallet, L. (eds) Medication-Related Falls in Older People. Adis, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32304-6_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32304-6_8

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  • Publisher Name: Adis, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-32302-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-32304-6

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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