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Unexplained Falls Are Frequent in Patients with Fall-Related Injury Admitted to Orthopaedic Wards : The UFO Study (Unexplained Falls in Older Patients)
Joint Authors
Alice, Maraviglia
Chiara, Mussi
Paolo, Cavagnaro
Niccolò, Marchionni
Gianfranco, Salvioli
Alessandro, Morrione
Andrea, Ungar
Pasquale, Abete
Franco, Rengo
Gabriele, Noro
Giulio, Masotti
Giovanni, Tava
Loredana, Ghirelli
Gianluigi, Galizia
Source
Current Gerontology and Geriatrics Research
Issue
Vol. 2013, Issue 2013 (31 Dec. 2013), pp.1-6, 6 p.
Publisher
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Publication Date
2013-02-25
Country of Publication
Egypt
No. of Pages
6
Main Subjects
Abstract EN
To evaluate the incidence of unexplained falls in elderly patients affected by fall-related fractures admitted to orthopaedic wards, we recruited 246 consecutive patients older than 65 (mean age 82±7 years, range 65–101).
Falls were defined “accidental” (fall explained by a definite accidental cause), “medical” (fall caused directly by a specific medical disease), “dementia-related” (fall in patients affected by moderate-severe dementia), and “unexplained” (nonaccidental falls, not related to a clear medical or drug-induced cause or with no apparent cause).
According to the anamnestic features of the event, older patients had a lower tendency to remember the fall.
Patients with accidental fall remember more often the event.
Unexplained falls were frequent in both groups of age.
Accidental falls were more frequent in younger patients, while dementia-related falls were more common in the older ones.
Patients with unexplained falls showed a higher number of depressive symptoms.
In a multivariate analysis a higher GDS and syncopal spells were independent predictors of unexplained falls.
In conclusion, more than one third of all falls in patients hospitalized in orthopaedic wards were unexplained, particularly in patients with depressive symptoms and syncopal spells.
The identification of fall causes must be evaluated in older patients with a fall-related injury.
American Psychological Association (APA)
Chiara, Mussi& Gianluigi, Galizia& Pasquale, Abete& Alessandro, Morrione& Alice, Maraviglia& Gabriele, Noro…[et al.]. 2013. Unexplained Falls Are Frequent in Patients with Fall-Related Injury Admitted to Orthopaedic Wards : The UFO Study (Unexplained Falls in Older Patients). Current Gerontology and Geriatrics Research،Vol. 2013, no. 2013, pp.1-6.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-508908
Modern Language Association (MLA)
Chiara, Mussi…[et al.]. Unexplained Falls Are Frequent in Patients with Fall-Related Injury Admitted to Orthopaedic Wards : The UFO Study (Unexplained Falls in Older Patients). Current Gerontology and Geriatrics Research No. 2013 (2013), pp.1-6.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-508908
American Medical Association (AMA)
Chiara, Mussi& Gianluigi, Galizia& Pasquale, Abete& Alessandro, Morrione& Alice, Maraviglia& Gabriele, Noro…[et al.]. Unexplained Falls Are Frequent in Patients with Fall-Related Injury Admitted to Orthopaedic Wards : The UFO Study (Unexplained Falls in Older Patients). Current Gerontology and Geriatrics Research. 2013. Vol. 2013, no. 2013, pp.1-6.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-508908
Data Type
Journal Articles
Language
English
Notes
Includes bibliographical references
Record ID
BIM-508908