This observational study was coTypology of fallsnducted from July 2009 to April 2010 in two institutions (assisted living and residential care, respectively) in Belgium. This study contributed to a better understanding of falls.
For 17 months, three people aged 65 years or older with a high risk of falling (defined as at least one fall in the last six months and/or gait and balance difficulties) were filmed.
Typologie des chutes
The video files were used to examine the different phases during real falls, using the classification system proposed by Noury et al.
This classification is composed of 4 phases: pre-fall, critical phase, post-fall, recovery phase.
Each of these sequences must be analysed in order to better understand what happened and therefore to take appropriate corrective action.
Physical impact of the fall
During the study period, a total of 30 falls occurred, of which 26 were recorded by cameras. Two falls were not recorded due to technical problems and two falls were not recorded due to their location (falls in a bathroom without cameras). Most of the falls occurred during the day, when people were most active. Two crucial moments: walking or transition.
In 21 cases (81%), the physical impact was mainly concentrated on the pelvis, torso or buttocks. Participants fell and most often impacted the pelvis (89%), torso (81%), head (62%) and elbow or forearm (62%)
In only 54% of the cases did the residents use an alarm system, with an average delay of 70 seconds after the fall to call for help. The participants were lying on the floor for an average of 14 minutes. If a call alarm was used, the average time spent on the floor was 11.5 minutes.
