Falls, Aging and Public Health – a Literature Review

Abstract

Accidental falls in the elderly and their consequences are one of the leading causes of disability; they significantly reduce the quality of life and lead to loss of independence and impaired social functioning. This study presents selected issues regarding the causes of accidental falls and research tools for determining the risk of falls based on a review of the scientific literature available in English in the PubMed/ MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, Embase, Scopus, PEDro databases and in Polish in the Polish Medical Bibliography and Polish Scien­tific Journals Database of 2015–2020, covering original papers, systematic reviews and meta-analyses. The following keywords were used: public health, risk factors, accidental falls, fall-related injuries, elderly, geriatric assessment. A total of 65 publications were included in the analysis. We believe that the use of at least two different tools in the risk assessment should be encouraged in view of the complexity and multitude of the risk factors. An optimal approach to the problem assumes interdisciplinary collaboration of all medical staff in assessment, rehabilitation, as well as fall prevention strategies, which is the most economical method of treatment.