Everyone's Health

Shorter days increase risk of falls for elderly

Colder weather and shorter days herald an unfortunate season mostly marked by hospital emergency rooms – fracture season for the elderly.

Falls happen to seniors all the time – an estimated 30,000 people age 65 and older are injured in a fall each week in the United States. But numerous studies here and in other countries consistently show that more falls, and more limb and hip fractures, occur during the winter than during the rest of the year.

A number of researchers believe that a combination of colder weather and shorter, darker days contributes to falls among the elderly in several ways.

One factor is that seniors become less active and get less sunlight and vitamin D in the fall and winter, leaving them less steady and with weaker bones. It's also possible that cold itself affects circulation and blood pressure and impairs brain communication with muscles. And there's evidence that darker days combine with poor indoor lighting to increase the danger of missing a step or stumbling over an ottoman.

In fact, at least a third of all falls among the elderly in the United States involve environmental hazards, like poor lighting, unsecured rugs or lack of secure handrails on stairs. And 54 percent of all fall-related deaths among the elderly occur in the home, with another 20 percent taking place in residential institutions.

More than 24 percent of seniors who suffer a hip fracture die within a year of the fall, and another 50 percent never return to their former level of mobility and independence.

Educating the elderly and those who help them in fall prevention is crucial. A recent survey done for the nonprofit Home Safety Council found that many caregivers don't know the simple procedures that can help avoid a fall in the home.

Nearly two-thirds didn't realize that nonslip or secured rugs and handrails on both sides of a staircase are important protection, and about half didn't know that lighting at both the top and bottom of stairs is crucial. Nearly a third weren't familiar with the need for grab bars in the shower.

Along with having good lighting and solid railings, make a home safer by reducing clutter in heavily traveled areas and on stairs, securing wires and cords away from walking areas and making sure that any furniture with high trip potential, such as footstools and coffee tables, is out of harm's way.

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