Bloem B R, Boers I, Cramer M, Westendorp R G, Gerschlager W
Department of Neurology, University Medical Centre St Radboud, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Wien Klin Wochenschr. 2001 May 15;113(10):352-62.
Falls severely threaten the health of elderly persons and pose high costs to the public health service. Unfortunately, falls are often regarded as unavoidable and untreatable features of aging. Therefore, many clinicians merely treat the physical injuries of a fall. However, falls and gait limitations are markers of underlying (sometimes otherwise subclinical) diseases that can be amenable to treatment. Moreover, falls and gait limitations herald the onset of repeated falls, physical decline, serious psychosocial consequences and a reduced survival. We review how clinically relevant risk factors can be traced by reviewing the medical notes, by careful history taking and by physical examination. The identified risk factors can serve as a template for the design of prevention strategies, which are discussed in the companion article.
跌倒严重威胁老年人的健康，并给公共卫生服务带来高昂成本。不幸的是，跌倒常常被视为衰老不可避免且无法治疗的特征。因此，许多临床医生仅仅治疗跌倒造成的身体损伤。然而，跌倒和步态受限是潜在（有时是亚临床）疾病的标志，这些疾病是可以治疗的。此外，跌倒和步态受限预示着反复跌倒、身体机能衰退、严重的社会心理后果以及生存率降低的开始。我们回顾了如何通过查阅病历、仔细询问病史和体格检查来追踪临床相关风险因素。所确定的风险因素可作为预防策略设计的模板，相关内容将在配套文章中讨论。
