Concept of the term long lie: a scoping review

The term "long lie" is often used when individuals who have fallen are unable to stand up on their own, so they have to lie unintentionally for a longer period of time until they are noticed and can be helped. Although long lie can lead to both short- and long-term physical and psychological effects, little is known about what describes the term. The aim of this review is to identify what characterizes the term.

Using the Arksey and O'Malley's framework for scoping reviews in accordance with the modified Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses framework, a systematic search was conducted for papers and gray literature that define, explain, or describe a long lie. The literature research was conducted via seven databases and Google Scholar.

The search yielded 921 hits, of which 22 research papers are included; most studies were published after 2010. Emergency medicine and public health in particular have studied long lies and have found that it does not only affect the older adults who have fallen and cannot stand up on their own because of their frailty but also individuals with restricted mobility, which can be related to several reasons.

The results show that a standard concept of a long lie is lacking. The duration of lying and the location alone are not relevant criteria. Further factors (helplessness, psychological and physical consequences, etc.) should also be taken into account.