Abstract
Introduction: Falls are the second leading cause of accidental or non-intentional deaths worldwide and are the most common problem as people age. The primary purpose of addressing falls is to detect, prevent, treat, and reduce their incidence and consequences. Previous studies identified that multifactorial programs, an interprofessional team, and assistive technology are required to address falls in older adults effectively. Accordingly, the research question is as follows: what are the scope, type of studies, and approaches and strategies to fall risk using technology in the existing occupational therapy literature regarding interventions to address the effects of falls in older adults on daily living? Methods: This scoping review was carried out in January 2020 through Biblioteca Virtual de Salud España, C.I.N.A.H.L., Cochrane Plus, OTSeeker, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. Results: Twelve papers were included. We analyzed the year and journal of publication, authors’ affiliation, and design of the study, and thematic categories. There were three themes: participants’ characteristics, type of intervention, and fall approach and type of technology used. Discussion and Conclusions: The literature obtained is scarce. It is considered to still be an emerging theme, especially when considering the use of technology for occupational therapy.
Highlights
Falls are the second leading cause of accidental or non-intentional deaths worldwide and are the most common problem as people age
The results suggest the tool may assist older adults in identifying environmental factors related to falls and facilitate their ability to age in place
The iStoppFalls project focused on the use of exergames to reduce falls in older adults; this project was conducted from 2011 to 2014 to motivate and enhance the use of physical activity by community-dwelling adults aged more than sixty-five years by engaging with three purpose-built exergames to reduce falls [43,70]
Summary
Falls are the second leading cause of accidental or non-intentional deaths worldwide and are the most common problem as people age. Current and past scientific evidence has identified falls as the second leading cause of accidental or non-intentional deaths worldwide and the most common and severe problem as people age [5,6,7,8,9,10,11]. Studies have shown that thirty percent of older adults suffer a fall annually, increasing to fifty percent for people aged eighty years and over, and this one of the primary causes of their hospitalization [5,6,7,8,9,10,11]. A recent study by Burton and colleagues [12] showed that the prevalence of falls has not changed in the last ten years
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