RISK FACTORS OF FALLS IN ELDERLY PEOPLE: SCIENTIFIC PRODUCTION ON ONLINE JOURNALS IN THE HEALTH FIELD

Abstract

Objective: this study aimed to characterize the scientific production about risk factors of falls in elderly people, on online journals in the health field for the period from 2002 to 2010. Methodology: This is a research of bibliographic nature in which we carried out a search in the database of the Virtual Library in Health. To enable data collection the following descriptors were used: “fall and elderly”. After applying the inclusion criteria, the sample was composed by 21 publications pertinent to the investigated theme. Results: The year 2010 corresponded to the largest number of publications with five (23.8%) articles, followed in 2009 by four articles (19%) and 2007 comprising three articles (14.3%). Physiotherapists (43.7%) and nurses (29.7%) were the ones who most published knowledge on this topic, and the original article modality corresponded to 95.2% of the studies. Accidents from falls are related to intrinsic and extrinsic risk factors. Conclusion: We identified that there was a growing number of publications during the study period; that physiotherapy and nursing professionals portray this fall as an event in the life of the elderly; and we also found researchers' interest in producing knowledge from original investigations. The data from the studies showed that the risk factors are associated with the presence of diseases, medication, psychological factors and changes of posture and balance. DESCRIPTORS: Accidental Falls. Elderly. Risk factors.