Sustainable fall prevention across Europe: challenges and opportunities

• Main Authors: van der Velde, Nathalie, Seppala, Lotta, Petrovic, Mirko, Ryg, Jesper, Tan, Maw Pin *, Montero-Odasso, Manuel, Martin, Finbarr C, Masud, Tahir
• Format: Article
• Published: Springer 2022
• Subjects: RC Internal medicine
• Online Access: http://eprints.sunway.edu.my/3082/; https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40520-022-02178-w

Falls and related injuries form a growing health-care problem in aging societies. Between 40 and 60% of older fallers in the last year report being injured [1]. Around 15–20% of falls result in serious (non-fracture) injuries including fractures [2]. Non-injurious falls have also been associated with adverse health effects, including accelerated functional decline, anxiety and depression, fear of falling, and social withdrawal [3]. Consequently, fall incidents have an impact on societal health-care expenditure, equaling 0.85–1.5% of the total health-care expenditure in Western countries [4].