Could Fire and Rescue Services identify older people at risk of falls?

The Sit-to-Stand (STS) is a widely used test of physical function to screen older people at risk of falls and frailty and is also one of the most important components of standard screening for sarcopenia. There have been many recent studies in which instrumented versions of the STS (iSTS) have been developed to provide additional parameters that could improve the accuracy of the STS test. This systematic review aimed to identify whether an iSTS is a viable alternative to a standard STS to identify older people at risk of falling, frailty, and sarcopenia. A total of 856 articles were found using the search strategy developed, with 12 articles retained in the review after screening based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Six studies evaluated the iSTS in fallers, five studies in frailty and only one study in both fallers and frailty. The results showed that power and velocity parameters extracted from an iSTS have the potential to improve the accuracy of screening when compared to a standard STS. Future work should focus on standardizing the segmentation of the STS into phases to enable comparison between studies and to develop devices integrated into the chair used for the test to improve usability.

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The Effects of Minimal Shoes in Older People at Risk of Falls: The Feetback Shoe Study

Case Medical Research ◽

10.31525/ct1-nct03874728 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Keyword(s):

At Risk ◽

Older People ◽

Risk Of Falls

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Effects of vertical and side-alternating vibration training on fall risk factors and bone turnover in older people at risk of falls

Age and Ageing ◽

10.1093/ageing/afu136 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 44 (1) ◽

pp. 115-122 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

H. Corrie ◽

K. Brooke-Wavell ◽

N. J. Mansfield ◽

A. Cowley ◽

R. Morris ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

At Risk ◽

Bone Turnover ◽

Older People ◽

Fall Risk ◽

Fall Risk Factors ◽

Risk Of Falls ◽

Vibration Training

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Towards an Optimizing Model for Older People at Risk of Falls

2012 ASE/IEEE International Conference on BioMedical Computing (BioMedCom) ◽

10.1109/biomedcom.2012.15 ◽

2012 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Ahmad Albu-Shamah ◽

Justin Zhan

Keyword(s):

At Risk ◽

Older People ◽

Risk Of Falls ◽

Optimizing Model

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Health Practitioners’ Perceptions of Falls and Fall Prevention in Older People: A Metasynthesis

Qualitative Health Research ◽

10.1177/1049732318805753 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 29 (1) ◽

pp. 69-79 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Brianne van Rhyn ◽

Alex Barwick

Keyword(s):

At Risk ◽

Older People ◽

Fall Prevention ◽

Research Evidence ◽

Clinical Experiences ◽

Key Stakeholders ◽

Health Practitioners ◽

Risk Of Falls ◽

Fall Rates ◽

Practice Gap

Fall prevention has received a great deal of consideration and funding, however fall rates have not reduced accordingly. Health practitioners are key stakeholders in the process of implementing fall prevention evidence into their clinical assessment and management of older people at risk of falling. Investigating health practitioners’ clinical experiences and perceptions has been identified as a means to enhance the translation of knowledge. Four databases were searched for studies exploring health practitioners’ perceptions of falls and fall prevention. A metasynthesis of eight qualitative studies was conducted. The findings suggest that health practitioners face substantial barriers in the implementation of fall prevention practices. These include personal, interpersonal, and clinical barriers in addition to limitations of the research evidence. This knowledge hopes to enhance targeted dissemination of knowledge, reducing the research–practice gap and improving clinical outcomes for older people at risk of falls.

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