Public Health department, NORC at the University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Texas A&M University, El Paso, TX, USA.
Age Ageing. 2023 Nov 2;52(11). doi: 10.1093/ageing/afad220.
Falls are a leading cause of injury and mortality among older adults. While multiple strategies are effective at reducing fall risk, uptake is low. Understanding how older adults think about fall risk and prevention activities can inform outreach initiatives and engagement.
We systematically searched PubMed, SCOPUS and Google Scholar for articles published between January 2015 and April 2023. Studies were eligible if they reported on knowledge or perception of fall risk and/or prevention among community-dwelling older adults.
We included 53 studies from 20 different countries. Over half of the studies used qualitative methods, 19 used quantitative, and three used mixed methods. Most of the older adults could identify some fall risk factors and the consequences of falls. However, many older adults did not view themselves as at-risk for falls. Some older adults consider falls an inevitable part of ageing, while others believe that falls can be prevented. Cultural context may play a role in shaping these beliefs. Several studies reported on older adults' experiences and the perceived barriers and facilitators of participating in fall prevention activities.
Improving the accuracy of older adults' perceptions of their own fall risk and highlighting the fact that many falls are preventable are two key messages that may help motivate older adults to take action to prevent falls. Older adults cite their healthcare provider as a trusted source of prevention information, and clinicians can leverage this opportunity to inform and motivate older adult patients about fall prevention.
跌倒已成为老年人受伤和死亡的主要原因。尽管有多种策略可有效降低跌倒风险，但采用率却很低。了解老年人对跌倒风险和预防活动的看法可以为推广活动和参与提供信息。
我们系统地检索了 PubMed、SCOPUS 和 Google Scholar 数据库，以获取 2015 年 1 月至 2023 年 4 月期间发表的文章。如果研究报告了社区居住的老年人对跌倒风险和/或预防的知识或看法，则符合纳入标准。
我们纳入了来自 20 个不同国家的 53 项研究。超过一半的研究使用了定性方法，19 项使用了定量方法，3 项使用了混合方法。大多数老年人可以识别一些跌倒风险因素和跌倒的后果。然而，许多老年人并不认为自己有跌倒风险。一些老年人认为跌倒不可避免，是衰老的一部分，而另一些人则认为跌倒可以预防。文化背景可能在塑造这些信念方面发挥作用。一些研究报告了老年人的经验以及参与跌倒预防活动的感知障碍和促进因素。
提高老年人对自身跌倒风险的准确认识，并强调许多跌倒都是可以预防的，这两点可能有助于激励老年人采取行动预防跌倒。老年人将他们的医疗保健提供者视为预防信息的可信来源，临床医生可以利用这一机会向老年患者提供有关跌倒预防的信息并激励他们。
