Why Does America's Falling Epidemic Keep Getting Worse? [View all]
More than 1 in 4 people over age 65 fall each year. Earlier this month, the veteran TV host and comedian Jay Leno was one of them. Leno, 74, left his hotel near Pittsburgh looking for a bite to eat. It would have been a long walk to the restaurant, so he took a shortcut down a grassy hill. A tumble on the slope left him with a broken wrist and significant bruises to his face and entire left side.
Leno still managed to do his comedy act that night. He was luckier than many fall victims. Every year, falls among older Americans result in about 3.6 million emergency room visits and 1.2 million hospital stays, at a cost of roughly $80 billion. Nationwide, 41,000 senior citizens die from falls annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In recent years, prominent figures such as comedian Bob Saget, former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman and Ivana Trump died after a fall.
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The CDC operates a program known as STEADI (Stopping Elderly Accidents, Deaths and Injuries) to assist healthcare providers in screening older patients for fall risk factors, such as a history of falls, vision problems, inadequate vitamin D intake and foot problems. In one common test, the patient must get up from a chair, walk 10 feet, turn around, walk back and sit down. If this takes more than 12 seconds, they are deemed to be at risk for a fall. Earlier this year, Rep. Carol Miller of West Virginia, a Republican, introduced legislation to make fall-risk assessment part of Medicare’s annual wellness benefit for all seniors. The bill, known as the SAFE Act, would also direct the Department of Health and Human Services to report annual statistics about falls to Congress.
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“There has also been research on dual tasks, like doing more than one thing at a time,” Vincenzo notes. “It’s hard for you to focus on movement if you’re focusing on doing another task, talking on the phone or texting, so that if you have impaired balance or walking problems, you’re not going to pay attention to that and potentially fall.”
The National Council on Aging advises older Americans to take a free online risk survey. Seniors should also review medications with regard to possible impact on stability, acquire a medical alert device if affordable, and create a home safety checklist, which can include getting rid of small throw rugs, adding a bathroom night-light, avoiding shelves that are too high to reach safely and installing grab bars.
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