¶ … Epidemiological Study on Falls
This is a matched cohort study of 754 volunteer elders who live together in a community in New Haven, Connecticut in determining damaging effects of injurious falls among the disabled ones (Gill et al., 2013). It sought to discover the connection between hip fractures and the damaging effects. Of this total number of participants, 122 were hospitalized patients for injurious falls, 59 of whom were hip-fractured and 63 were injured for other causes. They were compared or matched with 241 patients who were hospitalized for other causes not related to falls. Their mean age was 85.7 and they were evaluated every month for disability. They were admitted in nursing homes from 1998 to 2010 for injuries caused by hip fractures and other causes. It was found that their disability substantially increased in the first 6 months of hospitalization as compared to those who were hospitalized for non-fall causes (Gill et al.).
This also meant that those who became more disabled for falls were more likely to remain in nursing homes for a longer time than those who were hospitalized for other causes (Gill et al., 2013). This points to an association between hip fracture and other fall-related injuries...
Their group is compared to the risk of injury among other elders in the same community and admitted to nursing homes who did not suffer from hip fracture. The home-based assessment lasted for 108 months with 18 months of interval from June 30, 2010. A proxy informant was used for patients who died during the conduct of the study. In this period, both groups were monitored using different variables, such as the difference in falls in the first group, economic status and health status. Researchers noted any significant increase in falls in this first group as compared to the second group to extract evidence in favor or against the connection between the injury, its cause and length of stay in nursing homes (Gordis).
The damaging effects of injuries falls were, however, not limited to hip fracture as a cause
(Gill et al., 2013; Gordis, 2015). There were other causes of fall-related injuries, which lengthen stay in nursing homes. These findings strongly suggest and call for more stringent…
