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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| The sex and age of older adults influence the outcome of induced trips | | Author(s) | Michael J Pavol, Tammy M owings, Kevin T Foley |
| Journal title | The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, vol 54A, no 2, February 1999 |
| Pages | pp M103-M108 |
| Keywords | Falls ; Accident prevention ; Mobility ; Age groups [elderly] ; Older men ; Older women ; United States of America. |
| Annotation | Falls are a significant source of morbidity and mortality in older people, with up to 55% of these falls due to tripping. If falls are to be prevented, there is a need to identify factors that determine whether a trip is recoverable, and those factors that increase an older person's risk of falling. Trips were induced in 79 healthy, community-dwelling, safety-harnessed older Americans (50 of them women), using a concealed, mechanical obstacle. Most of the trip outcomes (39) were classified as recoveries, 10 as falls, 12 as rope assists, and 10 as misses. Women fell four times as frequently as men; and women under 70s fell more than three times as frequently as those older. Trip outcomes in men were essentially unaffected by age. The foot obstructed to induce the trip did not affect the trip outcome. The presence of the safety harness had almost no effect on gait. The length of stride preceding a trip did not differ from normal. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-010117219 A |
| Classmark | OLF: OQ: C4: BB: BC: BD: 7T |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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