Significance of the Problem
The CDC (2016) reported that each year about 2.5 million people aged 65 and older are treated in emergency departments for falls-related injuries, and more than 700,000 are hospitalized. In addition, nearly one-fourth of older adults died within 6 months due to hip fractures as a result of falls, and 50% of survivals of …show more content…
However, there is a gap in current practice and older adults are not screened by primary care providers (PCPs) for fall risk and very few older adults use evidence-based fall prevention strategies (Phelan, Mahoney, Voit, & Stevens, 2015). After the completion of the literature review, a search for updated guidelines were conducted to find the recent evidence-based practice guideline to prevent falls. The guideline “Prevention of falls in community-dwelling older adults: U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendation statement”; an updated version of the 1996 USPSTF recommendation statement was found on the National Guideline Clearinghouse