ABSTRACT
As the world’s population is ageing, falls in the elderly constitute a serious public health problem. It is estimated that one in three people living in the community aged 65 years and over, experience at least one fall per year (Campbell et al. 1990; Tinetti et al. 1988), with devastating human and economic costs to the community (Lord et al. 2007). There are many identified risk factors for falls, including intrinsic risk factors associated with age-related degeneration of the balance and neuromuscular systems (Lord et al. 1991, 1994) and medical conditions (Nevitt et al. 1989) and extrinsic risk factors including environmental factors (Lord et al. 2006; Nevitt et al. 1989).
