Health & Fitness - 47,000 seniors hurt using canes, walkers

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47,000 seniors hurt using canes, walkers

ATLANTA (UPI) -- More than 47,000 seniors were treated in hospitals from 2001 to 2006 for injuries from falls involving walkers and canes, U.S. health officials said.

A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, found that people were seven times more likely to be injured in a fall with a walker as with a cane.

The study, which examined six years of emergency department medical records, determined older women sustained 78 percent of the walker-related injuries and 66 percent the cane-related injuries.

"Walking aids are very important in helping many older adults maintain their mobility. However, it's important to make sure people use these devices safely," lead author Judy Stevens of the CDC said in a statement.

"Walkers are often used by frail and vulnerable older adults; people for whom falls, if they occur, can have very serious health consequences."

Other key findings include:

-- The highest injury rates were among those ages 85 and older.

-- Fractures were the most common type of fall injury associated with walkers and canes, and about one-third involved the hip or pelvis.

-- More than half of fall injuries associated with walkers and canes occurred at home.

-- One in three people whose fall involved a walker and more than one in four whose fall involved a cane had to be hospitalized..

Copyright 2009 by United Press International

This news arrived on: 06/29/2009

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