As physiotherapists working with a lot of elderly patients across Staffordshire, Lichfield, Tamworth, Sutton Coldfield and Walsall to name but a few of the areas we visit we see a lot of patients who are either at a high risk of having a fall or have had a fall recently (often causing a fractured hip). As such I thought it might be helpful for anyone reading this blog to look into more detail about why falls in the elderly are such an issue, why they cost the NHS such a large amount of money and why physiotherapy is so helpful in reducing the risk of falls.

So, to anyone who is young and relatively fit having a fall is really no big deal. Our 4 year old falls over all the time and is completely okay and most of the time if you trip over and are young and fit the worst you will do is give yourself a graze. However in frail elderly patients falls often have significant consequences such as a hip or wrist fracture and are also often a sign of mobility and balance deteriorating. There are many reasons that the elderly patients that we see as physiotherapists fall over and some of our patients have underlying neurological problems such as MS, Parkinson’s or possibly they have had a stroke. However in patients with no underlying medical condition most commonly I would say that it is a general reduction in balance, strength and mobility that has caused the fall. Sometimes there are other causes such as the house environment has lots of trip hazards or their medication has not been reviewed and is causing them to become dizzy. However I think it would be reasonable to say that reduced balance, strength and mobility are the primary factors causing most of the falls in the patients that we see who haven’t don’t have a condition such as MS. Certainly as physiotherapists this is the area that we work hardest in with our patients and often even if I am seeing someone for something completely unrelated and I see their balance is poor I will give them some balance work to do.

To understand the scale of the problem and why it matters it is probably helpful to look at some statistics: It is estimated that 1 in 3 adults over the age of 65 will have a fall every year which means approximately 3 million falls per year! Not all of these falls will result in injury but approximately 20 – 25% of them will result in serious injury and in the over 75s an injury after a fall is the leading cause of mortality. So if we consider the fact the population of the UK is getting older falls are only likely to increase as a problem. The current cost to the NHS of falls each year is estimated at somewhere in the £2bilion region which is a truly staggering number and again with an aging population is only likely to rise.

As physiotherapists we really can (and do) make a difference to the likelihood of having a fall and the recovery from the impacts of a fall such as a broken bone. There is a large amount of evidence to support the effectiveness of physiotherapy in this area for example for every £1 spent on physio in this area the NHS saves £1.50!! I will put a link at the bottom of the page for anyone interested in further research and having a look at the evidence.

Certainly our experience as physiotherapists working with elderly adults in both their own homes and nursing homes is that falls are an enormous problem and that we as physios really are able to make a difference. Often we are able to identify early balance difficulties and give targeted programmes to correct these problems. We are able to work with elderly patients whose balance and strength is much reduced and use exercise, strengthening and balance work with them to make them much safer and at less risk of a fall. If you would like further information about this topic please have a read of this https://www.csp.org.uk/publications/physiotherapy-works-falls-and-frailty

Okay, I hope you have enjoyed this latest physiotherapy blog. Just to let you know we are a home visit physiotherapy service based in Lichfield. Our physiotherapists visit Sutton Coldfield, Tamworth, Aldridge, Walsall, Rugeley and Cannock regularly and help patients with a wide variety of problems.