Community-based education programs can reduce falls and injuries among older people

Jan 24 2005

Preliminary evidence suggests that community-based education programs can reduce falls and injuries among older people by as much as 33 percent. In these programs, health advocates introduce multiple fall-prevention measures as a package across an entire community.

A review of previous studies by Rod McClure of the University of Queensland and others is the first one on this approach. Earlier reviews focused only on the success of specific fall-prevention strategies among individuals.

In the United States, falls account for approximately 10 percent of visits to emergency departments and 6 percent of urgent hospitalizations among the elderly.

The studies report injury rates in Australian, Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish cities after fall-prevention programs began compared with communities where the was no such program.

The results are largely positive, with all studies showing downward trends in fall-related injuries, from 6 percent to 33 percent. The reviewers acknowledge that only five studies proved to be of adequate quality, and none were randomized controlled trial, the gold standard for evidence. They say possible explanations for the positive results could include factors not related to the programs examined.

Nevertheless, they conclude that the consistent study results “support the preliminary claim that the population-based approach to the prevention of fall-related injury is effective and can form the basis of public health practice.”