Fall Detection Systems to be Used by Elderly People

Introduction

The advances in medicine and improved access of populations to health care systems, has increased life expectancy over the last decades. As a consequence, the number of elderly people in the global population is increasing and it is expected to become higher in the next years, especially in the developed countries. In 2008, the United Nations Statistics Division registered a total of 16.1% of population with 65 or more years old in Europe and 12.7% in the North America countries (UNSD, 2009). According to the Portuguese National Institute of Statistics, in 2006 the Portuguese average life expectancy was 78.5 years (75.2 for the men and 81.8 for the women) and between 1990 and 2006, the Portuguese population over 80 years old increased 35% (INE, 2007). Data from 2009 showed that elderly people (over 65 years old) already represent 17.9% of the Portuguese population. These numbers present an ageing tendency of the developed countries population and a new challenge to create balanced health and social policies.

Due to several factors, such as muscle strength impairment, decreased balance, vision difficulties, neurodegenerative diseases, among others, the elderly people frequently have less mobility, less autonomy and increased difficulties to perform normal daily activities, making them a particular group prone to suffer fall events. Falls can lead to moderate to severe injuries, such as hip fractures and head traumas, which remarkably deteriorate the health status of elderly people and can even increase the risk of early death (CDC, 2011). Each year, one in every three adults over 65 years older falls and this ratio increases to one in every two adults aging 80 years or older (Hausdorff et al., 2001; Hornbrook et al., 1994). In 2007, 81% of fall deaths were among people over 65 years old (CDC, 2011). Falls are considered to be the leading cause of injury death among elderly and they are also the most common cause of nonfatal injuries and hospital admissions for trauma. In 2009, 2.2 million nonfatal fall injuries among older adults were treated in emergency departments and more than 581,000 of these patients were hospitalized (CDC, 2011). Data from 2000 indicates that direct medical costs of falls in the United States corresponded to approximately $19 billion ($179 million for fatal falls and $19 billion for nonfatal fall injuries) (Stevens et al., 2006). In Ireland, it was reported that for just one Irish hospital, costs related to falls of older adults were estimated to be 10.8 million € per year (Cotter et al., 2006). Thus, besides its social impact, fall related events in older adults represent a significant financial burden to the health services worldwide.