Falls are a major clinical problem in geriatric medicine. Both falls and the fear of falling significantly reduce activity and independence of seniors. The advent of personal emergency response systems permitting a person to call for help by pushing a button on a device they are wearing has helped reduce some problems associated with falls. But this only goes part of the way, since with syncope and mental confusion a person may not be able to respond. This project will develop a personal alarm device that automatically calls for help after a significant fall. It is also striking that despite the clinical significance of falls there has been little effort to develop technology to better describe the phenomenon as it occurs. The proposed ambulatory device will also meet this research need by recording activity and body position characteristics associated with a fall. Phase I will use a limited clinical trial to demonstrate feasibility. The technology may be extended in phase II to apply to detecting near-falls, changes in behavior that indicate increased risk of falling and wireless communication for automatically alerting the caretaker after a fall. Both research and commercial units will be developed.
The commercial unit could be widely used for community and residential dwelling seniors at risk for falls. This will be a significant number of individuals given the increasing numbers of senior citizens in these United States. The research unit could be widely used in geriatric treatment and research centers studying the problems of falls.
