Strategies to minimize fall-related injuries in older adults at risk of falls: the Falling Safely Training (FAST) study.

Tobia Zanotto, Lingjun Chen, James R Fang, Abbas Tabatabaei, Jianghua He, Shelley B Bhattacharya, Neil B Alexander, Jacob J Sosnoff

Department of Occupational Therapy Education, School of Health Professions, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, United States.Department of Occupational Therapy Education, School of Health Professions, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, United States. · pubmed

Paper

Abstract

Falls are the leading cause of accidental injury among older adults. Current fall prevention programs are useful but do not target the key variable for injury (i.e., impact force). An approach, which has shown promise in robust older adults, is to teach safe-falling strategies to reduce impact forces. In this single-blinded, pilot randomized controlled trial, we explored the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a safe-falling program.

The following analysis is generated by AI and may contain errors. It is separate from the authors’ abstract and is not peer review.

Research summary

The paper claims that teaching safe-falling strategies can reduce impact forces and minimize fall-related injuries in older adults. This research is relevant as it addresses a significant issue in aging populations, focusing on injury prevention rather than merely treating symptoms of falls.

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