Falls & Safe Mobility Post-Test

An 80 year old male with no history of falls presents to the emergency department after a non-syncopal fall, which of the following statements is true?

What classes of medications are associated with increased fall risks?

What intervention has conflicting recommendations by the CDC, AGS and USPSTF regarding its use in reducing fall risk and injury from falls?

An 80-year-old male with a history of recurrent falls is seen in your clinic with his daughter.  He has a history of mild dementia, anxiety, BPH, glaucoma, congestive heart failure, coronary artery disease, hyperlipidemia and hypertension. He lives by himself.  His daughter states he has become more anxious about falling and noticed he is not as active as he used to be.  Many of his falls have occurred at night when he gets up to use the bathroom.  Which of the following provides evidence-based strategies and interventions to help with decreasing his risk of falling?

An 82-year-old woman presents with complaint of shoulder pain. She says that she fell three days ago in her home while walking out of her bathroom in the middle of the night. She landed on her right shoulder and denies hitting her head. She says she might have tripped on a rug, but she is not sure. She states it was dark until she turned on the light. She denies any prodromal or autonomic symptoms.  She denies loss of consciousness. She is on low dose gabapentin for neuropathy, and otherwise takes daily multivitamins, calcium, and vitamin D. She admits to several “near falls” in her home over the past 6 months.  Which of these would be your first recommendation to decrease her risk for recurrent falls?

An 86-year-old female with history of HTN, CHF, urinary incontinence and mild memory impairment presents to the Emergency Department after a fall at home around 5 pm. She states she had been watching TV for about an hour when she decided to walk to her kitchen to start dinner.  Once she reached the kitchen, she noticed increased lightheadedness and felt like she was going to faint.  She tried to sit down in the kitchen chair but missed and fell onto the floor.  No injuries.  Of note, she was hospitalized the previous week for congestive heart failure exacerbation.  Which of the following risk factors would you consider first when evaluating the reason for her fall?