From the ArcaMax Publishing, Health & Fitness Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/healthtips/s-572862-373469
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..