Little is known about the association between the frequency of alcohol use and the severity of injuries sustained after a fall in older adults. A study of 3,128 older adults who underwent an initial head CT scan in the emergency department after head trauma from a fall shows that occasional alcohol use was associated with double the odds of a brain bleed when compared to patients with no alcohol use. Daily alcohol use was associated with 150% increased odds of a brain bleed.
Tag: Falls
Study Challenges ED Protocols for Geriatric Head Injuries and Blood Thinners
Out of 3,425 patients enrolled in the study, 0.4% (13 patients) experienced a delayed intracranial hemorrhage, a significantly lower rate than previously reported (7.2%).
Simon Driver, PhD, at Baylor Scott & White Health, discusses preventing traumatic brain injuries.
Simon Driver, PhD, at Baylor Scott & White Health, discusses traumatic brain injuries. What You Need to Know: A traumatic brain injury is a blow or jolt to the body or head. Common traumatic brain injuries occur during vehicle accidents,…
Men Over 65 Are at Greater Risk than Women of Skull Fractures from Falls
Because females 65 and older have an increased rate of falls and facial fractures, researchers compared the risk of skull fracture secondary to head trauma in geriatric female and male patients. Results showed that males had a significantly increased incidence of skull fracture secondary to head trauma, due mostly to falls. This outcome was unexpected, as previous research has indicated females are more susceptible to facial fractures. This trend also was seen across race/ethnicity, though results were only statistically significant for whites.
Five Key Factors Affect Physical Activity in Multi-ethnic Older Adults
A study is the first to use a large range of instruments/ tools and include older adults from many ethnic groups to determine factors affecting their physical activity. Results showed that age, education, social network, pain and depression accounted for a statistically significant proportion of unique variance in physical activity in this diverse older population living independently. Those who reported lower physical activity tended to be older, have less years of education and reported lower social engagement, networking, resilience, mental health, self-health rating, and higher levels of depression, anxiety, pain, and body mass index compared to the moderate to high physical activity groups.
A New Framework for Investigating Stability During Walking
By creating a new framework for using mechanical energetics as a measurement for stability, Georgia Tech researchers have gained deeper insights into how and why we fall.
FAU Awarded $1 Million to Help Prevent Injury, Death from Falls in Older Adults
Every second, an older person in the U.S. falls and injures themselves, and every 20 minutes one of them dies from the fall. The Geriatric Emergency Department Fall Injury Prevention Project will investigate several emergency department-based prevention strategies in older patients at high risk for recurrent falls and injury. The tailored multicomponent intervention will identify effective fall prevention strategies that target limited resources to high-risk individuals who come to the emergency department to improve patient outcomes, improve safety, and reduce overall costs of health care.
Pandemic may have increased older adults’ fall risk, poll suggests
The COVID-19 pandemic may have increased older adults’ risk of falling and injuring themselves, due to changes in physical activity, conditioning and mobility, a new national poll suggests.
Study Finds No Benefit, Possible Harm to Seniors’ Fall Risks with Higher Doses of Vitamin D
Johns Hopkins researchers have found that more is not always better in the case of vitamin D consumption and seniors’ fall risk.