One in four Americans fall each year but less than half tell their doctor. Your risk of falling doubles after your first fall. One in 10 falls requires medical attention, with over 3 million ER visits and 1 million hospitalizations each year for falls in elderly people. Some injuries are less severe, such as broken bones, but others can be quite severe, including broken hips and head injuries. Falls are the greatest cause of causing Traumatic Brain Injury.
Importantly, the fear of falling affects the lives of people aged 65+ because they avoid activities that would have brought enjoyment and more physical activity. Avoiding physical activity can lead to limb weakness, increasing the risk of falling further.
The risk factors for falling include lower body weakness, balance and walking difficulty, use of medications that cause sedation, vision issues, less than ideal footwear, and hazards in the home, such as broken steps or rugs that aren’t tacked down.
By predicting your risk of falling, you and your physician can decide what steps can be taken to reduce the risk. BeCare Health has a mobile phone app that assesses your risk of falling. The activities include the Timed Up and Go (TUG) which assesses how long it takes you to stand from a sitting position, turn a few steps, turn around and sit back down. The TUG test measures functional mobility that can help indicate a person’s risk of falling by assessingmobility, balance, and walking ability. The BeCare Health app also measures the length of your step, the number of steps it takes to turn around and how you swing your arms, all which can reflect neurologic disorders such as Parkinson’s disease which increase your risk of falling.
Take action by assessing your fall risk and working with your doctor to protect yourself and allow yourself to live your best life.
Thank you