Falls

Older people who experience falls are frequently in contact with nurses in all sectors of health care. You can use these pages to find out about the falls guidance and resources available to you. 

Falls are the number one reason older people are taken to the emergency department in a hospital.

Falls and fractures in older people are a costly and often preventable health issue. Reducing falls and fractures is important for maintaining health, wellbeing and independence among older people.

A fall is defined as an event which causes a person to, unintentionally, rest on the ground or lower level and is not a result of a major intrinsic event (such as a stroke) or overwhelming hazard. Having a fall can happen to anyone; it can be as a result of an accident, but can also be an unfortunate but normal result of human anatomy. However, as people get older, they are more likely to fall over. Falls can become recurrent and result in injuries including head injuries and hip fractures.

Falls are events resulting from the presence of risk factors. The likelihood and severity of injury from an event is often related to bone health. People with low bone mineral density are more likely to experience a fracture following a fall. One of the main reasons why people have low bone mineral density is osteoporosis.

Over 3 million people in the UK have osteoporosis and they are at much greater risk of fragility fractures. Hip fractures alone account for 1.8 million hospital bed days and £1.9 billion in hospital costs every year, excluding the high cost of social care.

Causes of falls

There are multiple causes and risk factors when it comes to having a fall. These include:

• having a history of falls
• muscle weakness
• poor balance
• visual impairment
• polypharmacy (taking multiple medicines)
• the use of certain medicines
• environmental hazards
• medical conditions.

Please see Public Health England's Falls: applying All Our Health.