Strategies for Preventing Falls in the Elderly

Fall incidents are the third cause of chronic disability in the elderly, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Recent reviews demonstrate that multifactorial and multicomponent intervention programs are effective in preventing falls in community-dwelling older adults. However, the application of these programs may not be accessible to a large part of the elderly population. The lack of continuity in the treatment of the consequences of falls, as well as the dissemination of prevention measures for this patient profile, could be minimized through the use of information and communication technologies. Method: This will be a randomized clinical trial that aims to evaluate the effects of two fall prevention strategies via telerehabilitation for elderly fallers after admission to an emergency room. It will be carried out by a multidisciplinary team with interventions for eight weeks and monitoring of outcomes over a period of four months. Patients will be evaluated regarding aspects of functionality in the second and month after the interventions and regarding the recurrence of falls during the four-month period. Discussion: The hypothesis is that the programs are viable in terms of accessibility to home training. However, to date, there is no evidence about the differences between these forms of interventions to prevent falls via telecare.