Falling deaths among older Americans are on the rise

CHICAGO – New study shows that the number of deaths among older Americans has nearly tripled in recent years, reaching more than 25,000 deaths annually

The results highlight the importance of falls prevention. A separate study confirms that programs focused on improving muscle strength and balance can help achieve this goal.

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Both studies were published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Circumstances were not included in the data, but traumatic brain injuries and hip fractures resulting in a significant decline in health are among the causes of death for the elderly who are falling.

"Falls due to falls may have increased because older people are living longer, longer independently and living longer with chronic diseases," said Elizabeth Burns, co-author of the study and health researcher at the US Injury Prevention Center. .

She noted that some medications also make older people more vulnerable to falls. This includes prescription drugs affecting balance. Burns said research has shown that the use of certain psychiatric drugs that can cause drowsiness and vision problems has increased dramatically in recent years.

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The new analysis includes 16 years of US vital statistics on 75-year-old adults. The fatal falls fell from 8,600 in 2000 to 25,190 in 2016. Separate data from the CDC show that they climbed even higher in 2017, to nearly 26,440 deaths among Americans aged 75 and over.

The study rate more than doubled from 51 fatal falls per 100,000 population to 122 falls per 100,000 population. The results echo studies on trends in fatal fall in the Netherlands and other European countries.

Weight bearing exercises such as walking; balance exercises; Resistance exercises to strengthen muscles can also reduce the risk of falls, said Dr. Marco Pahor of the Department of Aging and Geriatrics Research at the University of Florida, who wrote a newspaper editorial.

The program studied in the second study included exercises three times a week at home for one year, with five sessions led by a physiotherapist. These include sitting and standing leg lifts, knee to knee and backing, as well as walking for half an hour at least twice a week.

Participants were 344 Canadian adults aged 70 and over who had a recent fall. Half were assigned to the program at random, plus usual care by a doctor; the rest only received the usual care.

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During the study, 236 falls were observed in the exercise group, compared to 366 in the others.

Pahor said many older people are not aware of programs that can help them. Many US communities offer fall prevention exercise programs at senior centers, and National Councilon Aging offers online counseling.