Older Adult Falls in Emergency Medicine: 2019 Update

“Standing-level falls represent the most frequent cause of trauma-related death in older adults and a common emergency department (ED) presentation. However, these patients rarely receive guideline-directed screening and interventions during or following an episode of care. Reducing injurious falls in an aging society begins with prehospital evaluations and continues through definitive risk assessments and interventions that usually occur after ED care. Although ongoing obstacles to ED-initiated, evidence-based older adult fall-reduction strategies include the absence of a compelling emergency medicine evidence basis, innovations under way include validation of pragmatic screening instruments and incorporation of contemporary technology to improve fall detection rates.”