The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends counseling older
patients on measures to reduce the risk of falling. These measures include
exercise (particularly training to improve balance), safety-related skills and
behaviors, environmental hazard reduction, and monitoring and adjusting
medications. This recommendation is based on fair evidence that these measures
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reduce the likelihood of falling. The USPSTF also recommends an intensive
individualized home-based multi-factorial intervention for high-risk older patients
in settings where adequate resources are available to deliver such services.
Several studies have examined single risk-factor modification and multi-factorial
interventions, and have found that both can prevent falls in older patients (1).