Interventions to Prevent Falls in Older Adults: Updated Evidence Report and Systematic Review for the US Preventive Services Task Force.
Study Goal
The researchers aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and harms of fall prevention interventions, including vitamin D (with or without calcium), in community-dwelling older adults.
Results Summary
Vitamin D supplementation showed mixed results; one high-dose trial increased falls and injuries, one calcitriol trial reduced falls, and five others showed no significant effects.
Population
Community-dwelling adults aged 65 and older.
Effective Dosage
One trial used annual high-dose cholecalciferol (500,000 IU); others unspecified.
Duration
Not specified.
Interactions
None mentioned.
| Intervention | Direction | Endpoint | Population | Dosage | Impact | Claim # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Multifactorial intervention | decrease | falls | community-dwelling adults 65 years and older | incidence rate ratio (IRR), 0.79 [95% CI, 0.68-0.91] | associated with a reduction | #1 |
Multifactorial intervention | no change | other fall-related morbidity and mortality outcomes | community-dwelling adults 65 years and older | - | were not associated with a reduction | #2 |
Exercise | decrease | people experiencing a fall | community-dwelling adults 65 years and older | relative risk, 0.89 [95% CI, 0.81-0.97] | associated with statistically significant reductions | #3 |
Exercise | decrease | injurious falls | community-dwelling adults 65 years and older | IRR, 0.81 [95% CI, 0.73-0.90] | associated with statistically significant reductions | #4 |
Exercise | decrease | falls | community-dwelling adults 65 years and older | IRR, 0.87 [95% CI, 0.75-1.00] | associated with a statistically nonsignificant reduction | #5 |
Exercise | no change | mortality | community-dwelling adults 65 years and older | - | showed no association | #6 |
annual high-dose cholecalciferol (500 000 IU) | increase | falls | community-dwelling adults 65 years and older | - | showed an increase | #7 |
annual high-dose cholecalciferol (500 000 IU) | increase | people experiencing a fall | community-dwelling adults 65 years and older | - | showed an increase | #8 |
annual high-dose cholecalciferol (500 000 IU) | increase | injuries | community-dwelling adults 65 years and older | - | showed an increase | #9 |
calcitriol | decrease | falls | community-dwelling adults 65 years and older | - | showed a reduction | #10 |
calcitriol | decrease | people experiencing a fall | community-dwelling adults 65 years and older | - | showed a reduction | #11 |
vitamin D formulations (with or without calcium) | no change | falls | community-dwelling adults 65 years and older | - | showed no significant difference | #12 |
vitamin D formulations (with or without calcium) | no change | people experiencing a fall | community-dwelling adults 65 years and older | - | showed no significant difference | #13 |
vitamin D formulations (with or without calcium) | no change | injuries | community-dwelling adults 65 years and older | - | showed no significant difference | #14 |
IMPORTANCE: Falls are the most common cause of injury-related morbidity and mortality among older adults. OBJECTIVE: To systematically review literature on the effectiveness and harms of fall prevention interventions in community-dwelling older adults to inform the US Preventive Services Task Force. DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE, PubMed, Cumulative Index for Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials for relevant English-language literature published through August 2016, with ongoing surveillance through February 7, 2018. STUDY SELECTION: Randomized clinical trials of interventions to prevent falls in community-dwelling adults 65 years and older. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Independent critical appraisal and data abstraction by 2 reviewers. Random-effects meta-analyses using the method of DerSimonian and Laird. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Number of falls (number of unexpected events in which a person comes to rest on the ground, floor, or lower level), people experiencing 1 or more falls, injurious falls, people experiencing injurious falls, fractures, people experiencing fractures, mortality, hospitalizations, institutionalizations, changes in disability, and treatment harms. RESULTS: Sixty-two randomized clinical trials (N = 35 058) examining 7 fall prevention intervention types were identified. This article focused on the 3 most commonly studied intervention types: multifactorial (customized interventions based on initial comprehensive individualized falls risk assessment) (26 trials [n = 15 506]), exercise (21 trials [n = 7297]), and vitamin D supplementation (7 trials [n = 7531]). Multifactorial intervention trials were associated with a reduction in falls (incidence rate ratio [IRR], 0.79 [95% CI, 0.68-0.91]) but were not associated with a reduction in other fall-related morbidity and mortality outcomes. Exercise trials were associated with statistically significant reductions in people experiencing a fall (relative risk, 0.89 [95% 13 CI, 0.81-0.97]) and injurious falls (IRR, 0.81 [95% CI, 0.73-0.90]) and with a statistically nonsignificant reduction in falls (IRR, 0.87 [95% CI, 0.75-1.00]) but showed no association with mortality. Few exercise trials reported fall-related fractures. Seven heterogeneous trials of vitamin D formulations (with or without calcium) showed mixed results. One trial of annual high-dose cholecalciferol (500 000 IU), which has not been replicated, showed an increase in falls, people experiencing a fall, and injuries, while 1 trial of calcitriol showed a reduction in falls and people experiencing a fall; the remaining 5 trials showed no significant difference in falls, people experiencing a fall, or injuries. Harms of multifactorial and exercise trials were rarely reported but generally included minor musculoskeletal injuries. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Multifactorial and exercise interventions were associated with fall-related benefit, but evidence was most consistent across multiple fall-related outcomes for exercise. Vitamin D supplementation interventions had mixed results, with a high dose being associated with higher rates of fall-related outcomes.