Approach to Falls in the Elderly

Key points

• • Falls are usually multifactorial - ask what the patient was doing and feeling before, during and after.
• • Review medications (sedatives, antihypertensives) and check a lying-and-standing blood pressure.
• • Assess gait, balance, vision, cognition, feet and footwear, and home hazards.
• • Look for a serious cause (arrhythmia, infection, stroke) and for a fracture, including a fractured hip.