Safer flooring lowers risk of hip fracture

Elderly people living in residential homes are at significantly lower risk of hip fracture if they fall on carpeted wooden floors than onto any other type of flooring, researchers from the University of Edinburgh have found. The experts say that if this type of flooring was used throughout all residential homes, there could be a major reduction in the number of broken bones in older people in care. The risk of breaking a hip in a fall could drop by as much as 80 per cent.

In this month’s edition of the journal Age and Ageing, Hamish Simpson, Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Edinburgh, reveals results of a two year study, supported by the medical charity Research Into Ageing involving colleagues from the Universities of Coventry and Warwick. London, Birmingham and Oxford. The team studied 6,641 falls and 222 fractures which took place in 34 residential care homes. They also developed equipment which could simulate and measure the peak impact force during a fall by a person of average height and weight. Researchers discovered that carpeted wooden floors were associated with the lowest number of fractures. Concrete floors carried the greatest risk for fracture.

Professor Simpson says: “Contrary to our expectations, carpeting itself was not associated with a significantly lower risk of hip fracture following a fall. The difference in the level of broken bones between carpeted and uncarpeted wooden floors was not significant. On concrete flooring, we were surprised to find that there was a slightly lower risk of fracture if elderly people fell on uncarpeted, as opposed to carpeted, concrete. However, this may be explained by the fact that most uncarpeted concrete floors were in bathrooms and toilets, where falls were broken by handrails or bathroom fitments, or by extra vigilant staff in these areas.”

He added: “The possible implications of our findings are considerable. In 1990, there were an estimated 1.7 million hip fractures world-wide and this figure is expected to rise to 6.3 million by 2050. Residents of homes are typically frail and many have a tendency to falls. In designing safer environments for older people, the type of floor should be chosen to minimise the risk of fracture. This may result in a major reduction in fractures in the elderly.”