BACKGROUND Falls in older people are associated with poor prognosis. Medication use is a potential cause of falls. Our aim was to systemically review all original articles examining medication use as a risk factor for falls or fall-related fractures in people aged >/=60 years. METHODS We searched English articles in Medline (1996-2004) indexed under "falls" or "accidental falls" and "pharmace...

The aim of this study was to identify individual predisposing risk indicators for falls in a sample of institutionalized frail elderly in southern Germany. The design was a prospective observational study with a 1-year follow-up (October 1998-September 1999). The study population included 472 long-term-care residents whose mean age was 84 years; 77% were female. Risk indicators for accidental f...

Various fall-detection solutions have been previously proposed to create a reliable surveillance system for elderly people with high requirements on accuracy, sensitivity and specificity. In this paper, an enhanced fall detection system is proposed for elderly person monitoring that is based on smart sensors worn on the body and operating through consumer home networks. With treble thresholds, ...

BACKGROUND We evaluated the demographic data, mortality rates, fall causes, and post-mortem findings of individuals who fell from heights. METHODS Five hundred thirty-eight patients who sustained injuries after an accidental fall from heights were entered into the study. Our cases were collected prospectively in Batman over a seven- month period. RESULTS The mean age was 12.4+/-3.22 years (...

Two case studies are presented involving fatal falls of adult females from a height. One involved a launch at low speed from a balcony, and one involved a launch at high speed from the top of a cliff. Crime scene evidence obtained on the balcony itself provided a strong indication of homicide, but subsequent investigation showed that the fall was accidental. No crime scene evidence was obtained...