Nursing Home Fractures – ALF Falls – Stress Precedes Falls in Long Term Care – Nathan Hughey injury attorney
Stress Precedes Falls in ALFs and Nursing Homes
“An older man who experiences a stressful life event, such as the death of a loved one or a serious financial problem, is significantly more likely to also experience one or more falls in the subsequent year, according to a new study. But if a fall occurs, technology under development separately may someday soon be able to detect it and send for help.
Howard A. Fink, MD, MPH, of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Minneapolis, was the first author of a study of 5,994 men aged more than 65 years who lived in the community and were enrolled in the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men study in six locations across the United States. Subsets of these men participated in additional visits or provided information about stressful events and falls that occurred in their lives.
Researchers found that, among men who reported stressful life events, falls occurred in 29.9 percent of cases where one type of stressful event had been reported, 35.5 percent of cases with two types of stressful events and 39.9 percent of cases where three or more types of stressful life events were reported. In age-adjusted analyses, any stressful life event was associated with a 41 percent increase in risk of fall and a nearly two-fold increase in risk for multiple falls in the following year.
The study “provides the strongest evidence to date supporting stressful life events as a risk factor for falls,” Fink says. Possible reasons for the association, investigators say:
Stressful events trigger a neurohormonal response, causing stress hormones to be released, leading to falls and other adverse health events.
Inflammation – a potential indicator of physical stress – could lead to a loss of muscle mass and impaired physical function.
Sudden emotions triggered by a stressful event could affect balance or visual attention, leading to a fall.
The findings are published in the journal Age and Ageing. Additional research could confirm the study’s results, explore underlying mechanisms and determine whether screening could reduce falls, Fink says.”
Hughey Law Firm top rated fighting .