Abstract
Extending retirement ages and anti-age discrimination policies will increase the numbers of older workers in the future. Occupational health physicians may have to draw upon the principles and experience of geriatric medicine to manage these older workers. Examples of common geriatric syndromes that will have an impact on occupational health are mild cognitive impairment and falls at the workplace. Shifts in paradigms and further research into the occupational health problems of an ageing workforce will be needed.
Highlights
The world is undergoing unprecedented ageing and in many developed countries, the workforce is contracting due to falling birthrates, longer life expectancies and changing population demographics [1]
Examples of conditions that affect the elderly include falls, impaired cognition, disability, malnutrition, incontinence and iatrogenesis. Most of these syndromes are associated with advanced age and it is unlikely that such an old person would still be working and be seen by an occupational physician
When one considers that many geriatric syndromes can present in fifth decade of life, it becomes apparent that knowledge of geriatric syndromes may be relevant to occupational health
Summary
Evidence from e geriatric medicine literature has consistently shown that multi-factorial assessment for falls risk factors, followed by interventions targeted at identified risk factors, have been effective in preventing further falls [23,24,25] Such targeted assessment and management strategies have been found by a Cochrane Database Systematic Review to reduce occurrence of falls among older persons in the community by 25 to 39% [26]. There is no randomized control trial to determine effectiveness of interventional strategies to reduce the occurrence of falls among older persons in the workplace, so occupational physicians may need to turn to past studies on older persons in the community. Until more information is known, an older worker who falls, whether at work or not, deserves a full fall risk factor assessment and appropriate intervention to improve workplace safety and maintain employability
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