Active Protective Technologies, Inc Fort Washington PA 19034 USA.
IEEE J Transl Eng Health Med. 2023 Mar 15;11:247-251. doi: 10.1109/JTEHM.2023.3256893. eCollection 2023.
Structured Abstract Falls with major injuries are a devastating occurrence for an older adult with outcomes inclusive of debility, loss of independence and increased mortality. The incidence of falls with major injuries has increased with the growth of the older adult population, and has further risen as a result of reduced physical mobility in recent years due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The standard of care in the effort to reduce major injuries from falling is provided by the CDC through an evidence-based fall risk screening, assessment and intervention initiative (STEADI: Stopping Elderly Accidents and Death Initiative) and is embedded into primary care models throughout residential and institutional settings nationwide. Though the dissemination of this practice has been successfully implemented, recent studies have shown that major injuries from falls have not been reduced. Emerging technology adapted from other industries offers adjunctive intervention in the older adult population at risk of falls and major fall injuries. Technology in the form of a wearable smartbelt that offers automatic airbag deployment to reduce impact forces to the hip region in serious hip-impacting fall scenarios was assessed in a long-term care facility. Device performance was examined in a real-world case series of residents who were identified as being at high-risk of major fall injuries within a long-term care setting. In a timeframe of almost 2 years, 35 residents wore the smartbelt, and 6 falls with airbag deployment occurred with a concomitant reduction in the overall falls with major injury rate.
有严重伤害的跌倒对老年人来说是一种毁灭性的事件，其结果包括虚弱、丧失独立性和死亡率增加。随着老年人口的增长，有严重伤害的跌倒发生率有所增加，由于近年来冠状病毒大流行导致身体活动减少，这一比率进一步上升。CDC 通过循证跌倒风险筛查、评估和干预计划（STEADI：防止老年人意外伤害和死亡倡议）提供了减少跌倒造成严重伤害的护理标准，并将其纳入全国住宅和机构环境中的初级保健模式。尽管这种做法的传播已经成功实施，但最近的研究表明，跌倒造成的严重伤害并没有减少。从其他行业采用的新兴技术为有跌倒风险和严重跌倒伤害风险的老年人提供了辅助干预。一种可穿戴的智能腰带，在严重撞击臀部的跌倒情况下自动部署气囊以减少对臀部的冲击力量，这种技术在长期护理设施中进行了评估。在长期护理环境中被确定为有严重跌倒伤害高风险的居民的真实案例系列中，对设备性能进行了检查。在将近 2 年的时间里，有 35 名居民佩戴了智能腰带，发生了 6 次气囊部署跌倒事件，整体严重跌倒伤害率降低。
