New footwear reduces falls in the elderly population
A new gait-stabilizing device called the Yaktrax Walker has shown to reduce the risk of injurious falls during winter months in older adults who are fall-prone, reports a study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
Yaktrax Walker is a plastic netting sized to conform to the bottom of a boot or shoe. Participants in the study were asked to wear the device outdoors over their normal winter footwear and kept a diary of any falls.
A total of 43 outdoor falls were reported by participants in the study group who wore their usual winter footwear, compared with just 19 falls in the group using the Yaktrax device. There were 10 minimally injurious falls in the usual winter footwear group but only 1 minimally injurious fall in the Yaktrax group.
According to the study, falling is the leading cause of accidental death – the sixth leading cause of all deaths in older people. The average estimated cost for fall-related hospitalizations is almost $20,000. The Yaktrax Walker costs less than $20 a pair.
Media Contact
All latest news from the category: Health and Medicine
This subject area encompasses research and studies in the field of human medicine.
Among the wide-ranging list of topics covered here are anesthesiology, anatomy, surgery, human genetics, hygiene and environmental medicine, internal medicine, neurology, pharmacology, physiology, urology and dental medicine.
Newest articles
Red light therapy for repairing spinal cord injury passes milestone
Patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) could benefit from a future treatment to repair nerve connections using red and near-infrared light. The method, invented by scientists at the University of…
Insect research is revolutionized by technology
New technologies can revolutionise insect research and environmental monitoring. By using DNA, images, sounds and flight patterns analysed by AI, it’s possible to gain new insights into the world of…
X-ray satellite XMM-newton sees ‘space clover’ in a new light
Astronomers have discovered enormous circular radio features of unknown origin around some galaxies. Now, new observations of one dubbed the Cloverleaf suggest it was created by clashing groups of galaxies….
