Reasons for poor detection of frequent falls in elderly people by general practitioners

Abstract

Frequent falls in old people are an important marker for other serious diseases, but are poorly detected by general practitioners. This paper examined the reason for this in 603 people aged 65 and over taken from a random sample of the population of those living at home in Cardiff in South Wales. The people were questioned about whether they suffered from falls, whether they had sought advice, and whether the treatment they obtained was effective. Most people said that they would report frequent falls to their general practitioner. However, people who actually suffered the problem were unlikely to report it. Those who did were subsequently less likely to earmark their general practitioner as useful for treating the problem than those who had not attended. The poor detection of frequent falls by general practitioners appears to be a combination of two things. Firstly, there is a reluctance on the part of elderly people to report the problem, and secondly the relative inability of general practitioners to manage the problem successfully.