Prevention of Falls in Community-Dwelling Older Adults

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This topic page summarizes the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendations on the prevention of falls in community-dwelling older adults.

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Current Recommendations

Release Date: May 2012

• The USPSTF recommends exercise or physical therapy and vitamin D supplementation to prevent falls in community-dwelling adults aged 65 years or older who are at increased risk for falls.
  Grade: B Recommendation.
• The USPSTF does not recommend automatically performing an in-depth multifactorial risk assessment in conjunction with comprehensive management of identified risks to prevent falls in community-dwelling adults aged 65 years or older because the likelihood of benefit is small. In determining whether this service is appropriate in individual cases, patients and clinicians should consider the balance of benefits and harms on the basis of the circumstances of prior falls, comorbid medical conditions, and patient values.
  Grade: C Recommendation.

Supporting Documents

Supporting Document	Related Items
Recommendation Statement (PDF File, 157 KB; PDF Help)
	Clinical Summary (PDF File, 64 KB; PDF Help)
	Consumer Fact Sheet (PDF File, 430 KB; PDF Help)
Evidence Report (PDF File, 307 KB; PDF Help)	Evidence Synthesis (PDF File, 2.6 MB; PDF Help)

Current as of May 2012

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Internet Citation:

Prevention of Falls in Community-Dwelling Older Adults, Topic Page. U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/uspsfalls.htm

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