Falls in the elderly

Abstract

The falling situation among hospitalized elderly patients was analyzed by their ADL independence degree and gait ability. At the initiation of physical therapy, the patients who could get up by themselves tended to show high falling rate, and it seemed that falling may exert an influence on the length of physical therapy treatment. The patients who had experienced falling were characterized by a slow walking speed and gait instability with a variation in the required time for walking a specified distance. Future strategies are needed for reducing falling and injuries due to falling. © 1999, The Society of Physical Therapy Science. All rights reserved.