Falls are the leading cause of accidental injury among older adults, 30% of community-dwelling adults aged 65 and over fall each year, with nearly half occurring outdoors. These falls are complex, understudied, and insufficiently addressed in current age-friendly cities or walkability frameworks....
No actionable change for audiologists specifically — but vestibular and balance specialists may find the identified outdoor fall-risk factors and barriers relevant when counselling at-risk older patients.
Falls in older adults are a leading cause of injury and are linked to balance and vestibular dysfunction, making interdisciplinary consensus on prevention strategies tangentially relevant to audiologists who manage vestibular disorders.
- 01Delphi consensus method gathered interdisciplinary expert agreement on outdoor fall risks for older adults.
- 02Study published in BMC Public Health, covering risks, recommended actions, and barriers to prevention.
- 03Hearing loss and vestibular dysfunction are established fall-risk factors not always represented in urban planning or public health frameworks.
- 04Consensus findings could inform audiologists' patient education and interdisciplinary referral pathways.
- 05No audiology-specific interventions are evaluated; relevance is indirect.
Interdisciplinary expert consensus identifies key risks, actions, and barriers for falls prevention among older adults in outdoor public spaces.
guidelinesupported- PMID
- 42069576
- DOI
- 10.1186/s12889-026-27548-1.
- Journal
- BMC Public Health
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 5
- Population
- Interdisciplinary experts providing consensus on falls prevention for community-dwelling older adults in outdoor public spaces
- Intervention
- Delphi consensus process on falls prevention strategies
Primary outcomes
Consensus identification of fall risks in outdoor public spaces; Consensus identification of recommended preventive actions; Consensus identification of barriers to falls prevention
