Abstract:

Falls are the leading cause of injury and hospitalisation for people aged 65 and over. It has been estimated that 20% of hospital admissions in this age group are a result of falls and Fildes (1994) reported that the costs of falls is about $2369 million annually in Victoria. The purpose of this paper is to present as profile of gender differences in the frequency and location of falls, fear of falling, and predictors of falls in community dwelling older adults. The study found that women fall more often than men and were more likely to fall inside the home than were men. Fear of falling was a significant predictor of falling for the total sample (464 men and 526 women aged 65 or older residing in private dwellings in metropolitan Melbourne). Targetted interventions can be effective in improving falls outcomes and can be single or multiple risk factor interventions.