Faculty
Health Sciences
Supervisor Name
Aleksandra Zecevic
Keywords
falls, middle age, longitudinal, scoping review
Description
As the global aging population continues to grow, falls and fall-related injuries (FRIs) exert growing pressure on healthcare systems. Falls have been well studied regarding children (0-19 years) and older adults (65+ years). However, falls in mid-life (40-64 years) have not been studied as extensively. This scoping literature review on mid-life falls was conducted with the goal of answering two questions: what is known from the literature about the characteristics of falls occurring in mid-life, and how do falls in mid-life relate to experiences of falling over the lifespan, particularly falls later in life. A six-stage framework for conducting a scoping literature review, modified by Levac et al. in 2010, was followed, and a PRISMA flowchart was used to represent the study selection and attrition process. Various themes emerged from the literature including the emergence of two populations who experience falls in mid-life, fall prevalence rates in mid-life, and causes of falls in mid-life. In conclusion, falls in mid-life need to be further explored in order to establish fall patterns over the lifespan, determine the influence of chronic conditions, and establish clear fall incidences, causes, and risk factors.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Dr. Zecevic for supervising and supporting my USRI research experience, Daniella Bozzo, Alison Stirling, and Hélène Gagné for accepting me into their research team and the project, and Western Research, Western Libraries, and Student Experience for the opportunity to successfully complete an Undergraduate Summer Research Internship (USRI).
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Document Type
Poster
Included in
Falls in Mid-life: A Scoping Literature Review
As the global aging population continues to grow, falls and fall-related injuries (FRIs) exert growing pressure on healthcare systems. Falls have been well studied regarding children (0-19 years) and older adults (65+ years). However, falls in mid-life (40-64 years) have not been studied as extensively. This scoping literature review on mid-life falls was conducted with the goal of answering two questions: what is known from the literature about the characteristics of falls occurring in mid-life, and how do falls in mid-life relate to experiences of falling over the lifespan, particularly falls later in life. A six-stage framework for conducting a scoping literature review, modified by Levac et al. in 2010, was followed, and a PRISMA flowchart was used to represent the study selection and attrition process. Various themes emerged from the literature including the emergence of two populations who experience falls in mid-life, fall prevalence rates in mid-life, and causes of falls in mid-life. In conclusion, falls in mid-life need to be further explored in order to establish fall patterns over the lifespan, determine the influence of chronic conditions, and establish clear fall incidences, causes, and risk factors.