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Elderly patients and falls: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Dilay Hacıdursunoğlu Erbaş1, Fadime Çınar2, Fatma Eti Aslan3
1İstanbul Sancaktepe Şehit Prof. Dr. İlhan Varank Training and Research Hospital, İstanbul, Turkey. dhacidursunoglu@gmail.com.
Aging Clinical and Experimental Research
|April 17, 2021
Summary
Falls are a significant public health issue for elderly surgical patients. Chronic diseases and a history of falls are major risk factors, while age itself is not a significant risk.
Area of Science:
- Geriatric Medicine
- Surgical Patient Care
- Public Health
Background:
- Falls in elderly surgical patients represent a critical public health concern.
- Predetermining fall risk allows for targeted preventive interventions.
- An up-to-date meta-analysis is needed to consolidate current evidence on this topic.
Purpose of the Study:
- To conduct a comprehensive meta-analysis on falls in elderly patients undergoing surgery.
- To identify key risk factors associated with falls in this vulnerable population.
Main Methods:
- Systematic screening of studies published between January 2009 and November 2019.
- Databases searched included Google Scholar, PubMed, Ovid, and CINAHL.
- Keywords encompassed 'geriatrics', 'aged', 'surgery', and 'accidental falls' in English and Turkish.
Main Results:
- Eighteen studies met the inclusion criteria for the meta-analysis.
- Study designs included retrospective, descriptive, case-control, cross-sectional, and prospective.
- No significant publication bias was detected among the included studies.
Conclusions:
- Falls are a highly prevalent public health problem among elderly surgical patients.
- Chronic diseases and a prior history of falls are significant risk factors.
- Advanced age or gait-inhibiting conditions were not identified as risk factors in this meta-analysis.
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