TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2010//
TI  - Falls prevention through community intervention – A Swedish example
JO  - Safety science
A1  - Larsson, Tore J.
A1  - Hägvide, ML
A1  - Svanborg, Maria
A1  - Borell, Lena
SP  - 204
EP  - 208
VL  - 48
IS  - 2
N2  - In order to control and reduce fall-related injuries, particularly among women over the age of 55, a safety management and falls prevention campaign was structured and implemented during 2006–2007 in the small industrial town of Södertälje, Sweden. A local campaign was launched to recruit falls prevention agents, to inform key target groups in the local community, and to educate older people about fall risks. A survey showed that the campaign had a greater impact among professionals with a special relation to fall risk than among the general population. Medical records were used in the evaluation of the outcomes. The results show that between 2005 and 2007 there was a drop of fractures related to falls in the council: an overall drop of 16.7% in the population; among men 55 or older a drop of 12%, among women 55 or older a drop of 15%, among home-dwelling women 55 or older a drop of 5.7% and among women in special accommodation a drop of 44.4%. Expressed in terms of years lost to disability (YLD), the overall drop in hip fractures treated at the local hospital between 2005 and 2007 was 48%. A comparison with National medical records for the same period shows the drop for the intervention area to be much larger than that for Sweden as a whole, although the effect was not statistically significant. The study demonstrates the advantages of a broad, community-based approach to injury prevention.<p />
LA  - en
SN  - 0925-7535
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2009.08.002
ID  - ref1
ER  -