The impact of falls in quality of life of the elderly

Abstract

Introduction: Falls, in the aging context, emerge as important events that may affect quality of life of the elderly. Objectives: To review the literature about the impact falls can have on quality of life of older people. Methods: It was performed a literature search in Portuguese, Spanish and English through the databases PubMed, Lilacs and Scielo. Results: Eleven articles were included. Among physical consequences of falls, there are fractures, hospitalization, immobilization and spinal cord injury. The functional consequences cited were restricted mobility, change of habits and loss of independence. Fear of falling, change of address, family rearrangement, social isolation, depression and decreased self-esteem show the psychosocial impact of the event. Conclusion: Falls in the elderly are common and determine multiple complications. This study showed that there are physical, functional and psychosocial consequences of falling that may directly or indirectly affect the elderly quality of life.