Self Risk Factors:
- Acute illness
- The symptoms of acute illnesses put you at a higher risk of falling. Some symptoms include dizziness, weakness, pain and nausea.
- Medications
- Side effects from medications can include drowsiness, dizziness, low blood pressure, visual disturbances, etc., can increase the risk of a fall.
- Vitamin insufficiency
- Vitamins such as vitamin D and calcium have been proven to help with bone and muscle strength. Vitamin deficiency can cause injuries such as bone fractures.
- Balance deficits
- Balance is super important when it comes to falls. Negative changes to the systems responsible for postural stability will increase the chances of a fall. Decreased sensation in the feet will increase your chances of having a balance deficit.
- Chronic conditions & disabilities
- Conditions, such as Parkinson’s Disease, Diabetes, and arthritis, cause physical and neurological limitations that can affect a person’s cognition, mobility, and balance.
- Urinary/bowel incontinence can cause urgency thus making you rush to the bathroom.
- Cognitive impairments
- Individuals with a cognitive impairment are 2-3 times more likely to fall than those without cognitive impairments.
- Individuals with a cognitive impairment have difficulty with adapting to their surrounding environment and reacting to stimuli to maintain or restore their balance.
- Altered senses
- Vision, sensation and hearing are the most important senses when it comes to falls.
- Vision: If you have poor vision, you can’t see where you’re going and you can trip or slip on objects or surfaces.
- Sensation: Poor sensation can be a big risk factor for falls, especially on the feet. If you can’t feel the ground under your feet, you can lose your balance and fall.
- Hearing: Within our ears, we have a system called the vestibular system. This system is responsible for orientation, motion and balance. If there is a hearing issue, this system will become affected and it can lead to a fall. Loss of hearing can also lead to decreased awareness in the environment around you.
- Muscle weakness & reduced physical fitness
- Lack of muscle strength and endurance, especially in the legs, increase the risk of falls because it becomes difficult to lift our legs so that the feet can clear the ground. If we’re not able to clear the ground, it can lead to a trip or slip.
- Fear of falling
- Fear of falling can be caused by previous falls in the past. People with a fear of falling will start living an isolated, sedentary lifestyle which will increase the risk of falls.
- Excessive alcohol
- Alcohol negatively affects your awareness, balance and gait.
- Inadequate diet
- Malnutrition and dehydration can cause muscle weakness, frailty and fatigue.
- Recklessness
- Risk taking behaviours such as climbing ladders or doing things that we were able to do once upon a time increase the risk of a fall. As we get older, we tend to become unaccepting of our physical state.
- Age
- As we age, we become more prone to all the risk factors listed above.
Environmental Risk Factors:
- Footwear and clothing
- Footwear: High heels, soles that are too thick, and/or treads that are too smooth increase the risk of a fall due to poor postural stability.
- Clothing: Clothing that is too long or too slippery, such as silk, increase the risk of a fall due to clothing getting caught where it shouldn’t and slipping out of a chair.
- Weather
- Weather can be responsible for a lot of falls…especially in the winter. According to an injury report by Statistics Canada, 19% of seniors aged 65 and up experienced a fall caused by slipping or tripping on ice or snow.
- Clutter within household
- Too much clutter leads to decrease space to get around and a higher chance of tripping over objects or furniture.
- Wet ground or floor
- Some examples include: someone passing a mop; getting out of the shower and there’s water on the ground.
- Lack of use of assistive devices
- As we get older, we’ll start to develop balance deficits, muscle weakness, etc. which require the use of an assistive device to help with those deficits. Not using an assistive device to help cope with these deficits increase the risk of a fall.
- Poor lighting
- Late at night when you need to go to the bathroom, there is little to no light at all. Poor lit areas can lead you to trip over things that may be lying around the house.
- Pets
- Pets can be extremely quiet at times. They can sneak up behind you without making a noise and next thing you know, you trip over them and fall.
- Floor patterns
- Wacky floor patterns can cause a person to get dizzy and lose their balance.
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/pub/82-003-x/2003003/article/6850-eng.pdf?st=vimmWpYa
https://www.cdc.gov/steadi/pdf/Risk_Factors_for_Falls-print.pdf
Senior Fall Prevention 