Falls in institutionalised elderly people: Factors involved and prevention study

Falls are defined in geriatrics as one of the great Geriatric Syndromes, an important source of morbidity and mortality that therefore affects the user's quality of life. It has been considered a syndrome due to its complexity, multi-causality and need for an interdisciplinary approach and because of the multiplicity of signs and symptoms presented.

It is a fact that with ageing, there is a progressive reduction in skeletal muscle mass evolving towards a loss of strength, functionality and autonomy. This is a fact that has a direct relationship with the risk of falls as we can later see.

There are many definitions of falls, but in an effort to standardise the concept, ProFaNe (Prevention of Falls Network Europe, Lamb SE et al 2005) published a consensus on different definitions including the concept of falls: An unexpected event in which the participant appears on the ground, floor or lowest level. According to the WHO report (Global Report on Falls Prevention in Older Age 2007), the fall is an external cause of unintentional harm.

It is classified by the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9) as E-880-E888 and as W00-W19 in ICD-10 classification. According to the revision by Cochrane (Zecevic, AA, et al 2006) there are many studies that do not indicate a definition of fall which makes data analysis and comparison of some studies with others more difficult.