Falls: A momentary slip and a lifetime of consequences

Abstract

Falls can cause death, disability, pain and distress. Falls are a major health issue for older people. Each year, 1.57 million older people fall more than three times and 75 000 fracture their hips. As our population ages and frailty levels increase, the rate of hip factures is predicted to double within the next 40 years (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), 2011a). This article is the first in a series aiming to explore this important health issue and to enable readers to understand why older people are at risk of falls and what can be done to reduce risk factors and enable people to remain healthy and well. This article explains how ageing affects the risk of falls, how falls affect older people and how to identify those at risk of falls.