- Author:
Kwang Il KIM
1
;
Hye Kyung JUNG
;
Chang Oh KIM
;
Soo Kyung KIM
;
Hyun Ho CHO
;
Dae Yul KIM
;
Yong Chan HA
;
Sung Hee HWANG
;
Chang Won WON
;
Jae Young LIM
;
Hyun Jung KIM
;
Jae Gyu KIM
Author Information
- Publication Type:Review
- Keywords: Accidental falls; Guidelines; Aged; Prevention
- MeSH: Accidental Falls; Aged; Aging; Developed Countries; Humans; Internal Medicine; Korea*; Mortality; Nursing Homes; Quality of Life
- From:Journal of the Korean Geriatrics Society 2016;20(1):1-28
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
- Abstract: Falls and fall-related injuries are common amongst the elderly population and have deleterious effects on the quality of life or independence in daily living in the elderly. Falling is also associated with substantial morbidity, mortality, nursing home admission, and an increase in medical costs. Given that Korea has shown an extreme demographic shift with its population aging at the fastest pace among developed countries, assessment of fall risks and implementing intervention strategies to the high-risk population are getting more important. The guidelines for the prevention of falls were developed first by The Korean Association of Internal Medicine and The Korean Geriatric Society. These guidelines were developed by an adaptation process and the use of an evidence-based method; 4 guidelines were retrieved by systematic review and by the AGREE (appraisal of guidelines for research and evaluation) II process and 7 statements were made based on the grading of evidence, and these recommendations followed the GRADE (grades of recommendation, assessment, development, and evaluation) framework. Given that falls result from a various combination of many factors, the guidelines contain multidimensional assessment measures and multimodal strategies to prevent falls. These guidelines were developed not only for use by primary physicians but also for patients and the general population. Therefore, these guidelines provide detailed recommendations and concrete measures for the assessment of the risk of a fall and to prevent falls amongst the elderly population.