The Covid pandemic may have increased the risk of falling for the elderly

The Covid-19 pandemic may have increased the risk of falls and injury for older people, due to changes in physical activity, conditioning and mobility, suggests a new US national survey.

The National Survey on Healthy Aging, conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, is based on responses from a national sample of more than 2,000 adults aged 50 to 80 years in a survey conducted between the start of the pandemic in March 2020 and January 2021.

The survey found that 25 percent of seniors suffered a fall, and 40 percent of them had more than one fall during the survey period.

More than a third of seniors (37%) reported being less physically active since the start of the pandemic. Almost the same percentage said they spent less time standing, walking or standing, after March 2020.

This reduced activity resulted in 27% of them saying that their physical condition – flexibility, muscle strength and endurance – had deteriorated. Mobility – the ability to get around, including with a cane, walker or vehicle – has decreased by 25%, according to survey responses.

Fear of falling increased by 23% during the pandemic. But it was much higher among those who reported less physical activity (32%), deteriorated physical condition (42%) or impaired mobility (45%).

The poll also reveals clues as to how the loneliness and lack of camaraderie that increased among older people during the pandemic could affect changes in activity levels, mobility and risk of falling, said the Survey Director Preeti Malani, Michigan Medicine Infectious Disease Physician.

“As life gets closer to normal, especially for the large percentage of older people fully vaccinated against Covid-19, healthcare providers and their loved ones should encourage more interactions involving safe physical activity,” said added Malani.

Falls kill more than 32,000 elderly people each year, and their numbers have risen steadily in recent years and are expected to continue to rise as America’s population ages, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.