Study Reveals Reduction of Nursing Home Falls through Select

It has come out in a recent survey of 21 nursing home units that the very method of holding back the elderly residents, in a selective manner and also giving them fewer sleeping pills can lead to the imperative reduction in falls. The four-year study, was led by the Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, and was found to analyse 2,343 reported falls and fractures in five municipal homes, for the sake of finding how they could relate to fall risk assessments and along with this the use of safety belts, wheelchairs and sleeping pills. In the entire duration of the study the researchers were found to analyse a great number of incidents tat affected 743 males and 1,908 females ranging from 40 to 105 years of age, with an average age of 72. All had been diagnosed with a physical illness or dementia and some suffered from both. On the other hand, the researchers also found that people proficint in the using of specified drugs were much more likely to experience a fall. Sleeping pills and anti-depressants made people 1.4 times more likely to fall, neuroleptics (antipsychotic drugs) made them 1.9 times more likely and sleeping pills with benzodiazepines (sedatives) made them 2.9 times more likely.

Speaking on this the lead author Edit Fonad RN MNSc from the Department of Neurobiology at the Institutet said, "In Sweden the use of medication has increased during the past ten years. Nine per cent of the population are aged 75 years or more, yet this group accounts for a quarter of the medication prescribed in the country. On average, this age group consumes six to 10 different types of medication." He also said, "Our results suggests that freedom-restricting actions cannot eliminate falls totally, but they might be protective when used selectively with fewer sedatives, especially benzodiazepines."