The Risk of Falling in the Elderly: A Subjective Approach

Accidental injury resulting from falling is the leading cause of death in the elderly population. In fact, 11 % of the nation's annual injury deaths occur in this age group. A significant number of accidental deaths occur in resident institutions. A short-term risk index was constructed and val...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Medical decision making 1990-07, Vol.10 (3), p.195-200
Main Authors: Fos, Peter J., McLin, Carlen L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accidental Falls - statistics & numerical data
Accidents - statistics & numerical data
Aged
Bayes Theorem
Humans
Risk
Risk Factors
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Accidental injury resulting from falling is the leading cause of death in the elderly population. In fact, 11 % of the nation's annual injury deaths occur in this age group. A significant number of accidental deaths occur in resident institutions. A short-term risk index was constructed and validated for the purpose of predicting the risk of a fall in an elderly institutionalized population. The risk index was developed from expert insights, using Bayesian inference. A group of experts identified major risk factors that influence the chance of a fall and provided estimates of the impacts of the identified risk factors. Identification of risk factors, elicitation of experts' insights, construction of the subjective risk index, and validation of the index are discussed. Key words: Bayesian inference; risk index; falling; elderly. (Med Decis Making 1990;10:195-200)
ISSN:0272-989X
1552-681X
DOI:10.1177/0272989X9001000306