Occurrence of falls among elderly institutionalized: prevalence, causes and consequences

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the prevalence, causes and consequences related to occurrence of falls among institutionalized elderly. Method: Descriptive study, with a quantitative approach, carried out with 15 seniors who reside and were victims of falls in an institution of long permanence in the city of João PessoaPB. Used an instrument with demographic questions and questions pertaining to falls. The research was approved by the Research Ethics Committee, CAAE34521414200005176. Results: The elderly 80 (12) had suffered three or more crashes, the leading cause of downfall (46,7) weakness, disturbers of balance and gait; 60 presented serious injuries, 40 fractures and 93,3 were alone at the time of the crash. Conclusion: The results obtained corroborate for the development of educational activities as to the risks of falls in order to remedy the existing factors.