A Bay of Plenty study has found more than a third of people in advanced age had a fall in the last 12 months, and of those 20 per cent needed hospitalisation.
The University of Auckland research focused on a population-based sample of Maori (aged 80 to 90 years) and non-Maori (aged 85 years), living in the Bay of Plenty, who took part in a study of advanced ageing, called Life and Living in Advanced Age: a Cohort Study in New Zealand - Te Puawaitanga O Nga Tapuwae Kia Ora Tonu (LiLACS NZ).
This recent report by LiLACS researchers presents key findings about falls in advanced age, including how often falls caused injury and hospital admission.
The study includes the prevalence of falls, multiple falls, injury from falls, and hospitalisations from falls for people in advanced age - by sex, ethnic group, and socio-economic deprivation. Use of physiotherapy services is also described for people who fell.
Study co-author, Professor Ngaire Kerse (Director for the University's School of Population Health), said "falls remain an important issue for people in older age. Injury from falls is frequent and potentially physiotherapy could be more frequently used to prevent further falls."