Prevention of falls in older adults: analysis of effective interventions
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.56294/ri20264Keywords:
Elderly, Accidental falls/prevention and control, Risk factors, Treatment effectiveness, Quality of lifeAbstract
Background: Accidental falls in older adults represent a phenomenon of recurrence and considerable severity since they affect the loss of independence and reduce the person's mobility capabilities, which contributes to premature admission of older adults to nursing homes in the short or long term. long term. It is imperative to study the effective prevention of these events to improve the quality of life of this population. The objective is to analyze effective interventions to prevent accidental falls and their physical consequences to improve the quality of life of older adults and sociodemographically identify samples of collected studies, determine influential risk factors in accidental falls, characterize types of preventive interventions and specify effectiveness. of these interventions.
Material and methods: The methodology applied was a systematic review of the bibliography, retrospective, prospective and qualitative, carried out using a data registration form obtained from academic articles published from 2019 to 2024 according to inclusion criteria. The material used was 11 studies or systematic reviews related to the stated inclusion criteria.
Results: The influencing risk factors are internal, such as cognitive and neuronal conditions mostly, which affects both men and women over 60 years of age. The most effective preventive interventions are multicomponent ones (exercise+cognitive therapy+professional education+technology) and comprehensive physical exercise, with a high level of fall reduction and noticeable physical improvement in the individual. Other interventions generate relative effects conditioned by time of application, age or preferences of the older adult.
Conclusion: The effectiveness of preventive interventions for falls in older adults in association with the risk factors that influence these accidents should be further explored.
References
1. Aguilera Eguía R. ¿Revisión sistemática, revisión narrativa o metaanálisis?. Rev Soc Esp Dolor. 2014;21(6):359-60.
2. Almeida ST, Soldera CLC, Carli GA, Gomes I, Resende TL. Análise de fatores extrínsecos e intrínsecos que predispõem a quedas em idosos. Rev Assoc Med Bras. 2012;58(4):427-33.
3. Alshammari SA, Alhassan AM, Aldawsari MA, et al. Falls among elderly and its relation with their health problems and surrounding environmental factors in Riyadh. J Family Community Med. 2018;25(1):29-34.
4. Alves RLT, Silva CFM, Pimentel LN, et al. Avaliação dos fatores de risco que contribuem para queda em idosos. Rev Bras Geriatr Gerontol. 2017;20(1):59-69.
5. Ámbito Financiero. Población argentina: crece la cantidad de adultos mayores [Internet]. 2023 [citado 2024 sep 13]. Disponible en: https://www.ambito.com
6. Ashburn A, Pickering R, McIntosh E, et al. Exercise- and strategy-based physiotherapy for preventing repeat falls in Parkinson’s: the PDSAFE RCT. Health Technol Assess. 2019;23(36).
7. Bischoff-Ferrari HA. The role of falls in fracture prediction. Curr Osteoporos Rep. 2011;9:116-21.
8. Bruce J, Hossain A, Lall R, et al. Fall prevention in primary care: the PreFIT RCT. Health Technol Assess. 2021;25(34).
9. Cockayne S, Pighills A, Adamson J, et al. Home environmental modifications by OTs to prevent falls: OTIS RCT. Health Technol Assess. 2021;25(46).
10. Cruz-Quijano PD, Pérez-Portal A, Piloto-Rodríguez A, et al. Algunas causales relacionadas con caídas en el hogar del adulto mayor. RCMGI. 2015;31(1):35-41.
11. Dautzenberg L, Beglinger S, Tsokani S, et al. Fall prevention in older adults: a network meta-analysis. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2021;69(10):2973-84.
12. Greenspan SL, Perera S, Ferchak MA, et al. Zoledronic acid for osteoporosis in elderly women: a clinical trial. JAMA Intern Med. 2015;175.
13. Iuliano S, Poon S, Robbins J, et al. Dietary calcium/protein and falls in elderly: cluster RCT. BMJ. 2021;375:n2364.
14. Lewis SR, McGarrigle L, Pritchard MW, et al. Population-based interventions to prevent falls. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2024;1.
15. Ministerio de Salud y Protección Social. Envejecimiento y vejez [Internet]. 2022 [citado 2024 sep 13]. Disponible en: https://www.minsalud.gov.co
16. Miranda-Duro MDC, Nieto-Riveiro L, Concheiro-Moscoso P, et al. OT and tech in fall prevention: scoping review. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021;18(2):702.
17. Morello RT, Soh SE, Behm K, et al. Multifactorial falls prevention in ED patients: systematic review. Inj Prev. 2019;25(6):557-64.
18. Oliveri M. Envejecimiento y atención a la dependencia en Argentina. Buenos Aires: BID; 2020.
19. Panel on Prevention of Falls in Older Persons, AGS, BGS. Clinical guideline summary. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2010;59(1).
20. Prince MJ, Wu F, Guo Y, et al. Burden of disease in older people. Lancet. 2015;385(9967):549-62.
21. Reid IR, Bolland MJ. Calcium and/or vitamin D for fracture prevention. Nutrients. 2020;12(4).
22. Rodrigues F, Domingos C, Monteiro D, Morouço P. Aging, sarcopenia and resistance training. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022;19(2):874.
23. Sena AC, Alvarez AM, Nunes SFL, Costa NPD. Nursing care for fall prevention in elderly. Rev Bras Enferm. 2021;74(Suppl 2):e20200904.
24. Silva-Fhon JR, Partezani-Rodrigues R, Miyamura K, et al. Factores asociados a caídas del adulto mayor. Enferm Univ. 2019;16(1):31-40.
25. Sousa LMM, Marques-Vieira CMA, Caldevilla MNGN, et al. Risco de quedas em idosos: revisão sistemática. Rev Gaúcha Enferm. 2016;37(4):1-9.
26. Spampinato G. Las caídas en personas mayores y cómo prevenirlas. Buenos Aires: Ministerio de Desarrollo Social; 2023.
27. Stefanacci R, Wilkinson J. Caídas en personas mayores. En: The Manual’s Editorial Staff. Manual MSD. 2023.
28. Stefanacci R. Calidad de vida en personas mayores. Nueva Jersey: MSD Manuals; 2024.
29. Sun M, Min L, Xu N, et al. Exercise to reduce fall risk: meta-analysis. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021;18(23):12562.
30. Thomas E, Battaglia G, Patti A, et al. Physical activity for fall prevention: systematic review. Medicine (Baltimore). 2019;98(27):e16218.
31. Tinetti ME, Baker DI, McAvay G, et al. Multifactorial intervention for fall prevention. N Engl J Med. 1994;334:821-7.
32. Yang Y, Wang K, Liu H, et al. Otago program for fall prevention: systematic review. Front Public Health. 2022;10:953593.
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Samanta Brandao , Karina Bustamante (Author)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The article is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Unless otherwise stated, associated published material is distributed under the same licence.