PubMed Health⌕ Search
Home/Archive/PubMed

PubMed · 11986539

Syncope: a fall from grace.

Jane Colgan
View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Falls by the elderly are not always what they appear to be on the surface. In the following paper, a woman must experience a long process of trial and error, as well as injury and suffering, before the underlying condition is finally uncovered by an astute nurse practitioner. The path to the diagnosis of syncope is a complex one, with economic, physical, and even social and psychological repercussions. Grace's "fall" not only contributes to burns and fractures, but damages her self-esteem and threatens her very independence. Armed with a thorough assessment, complete history, and the use of cardiac event recorders, a cardiovascular nurse has the unique opportunity to make a difference in the life of a patient suffering from suspicious falls and help her maintain a high quality of life.

Explore related subjects

Accidental FallsAgedElectrocardiography, AmbulatoryFemaleGuidelines as TopicHumansQuality of LifeSyncopeUnited StatesCase ReportsJournal ArticleReview

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Jane Colgan. 2002. Syncope: a fall from grace.. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0889-7204.2002.00968.x

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related citations

PubMed2003

Critical appraisal of physical rehabilitation measures after osteoporotic vertebral fracture.

Osteoporosis is asymptomatic until fracture occurs. Fracture of the vertebral bodies can be "silent" and is diagnosed incidentally on radiographic visualization. The occurrence of spontaneous vertebral fracture in an otherwise healthy individual is considered pathognomonic of spinal osteoporosis. Osteoporotic vertebral fractures and kyphotic posture are no longer disorders about which nothing can be done. Resistive training exercises can decrease the risk of vertebral fractures. Proprioception generated within joints, ligaments, and muscles contributes to awareness of the relative orientation of functional units of the spine at rest and in motion. This is fundamental to posture, balance, and locomotion. Proprioception reeducation can be utilized for improving posture and balance. The focus of this review is rehabilitative measures for management of vertebral fractures.

Accidental Falls↗
PubMed2003

Gender differences in recovery from injuries to the extremities in older persons. A prospective study.

PURPOSE: This paper examines gender differences in trajectories of basic activities of daily living after fall-related injuries to the extremities in independently living older people in the Netherlands. METHOD: The study comprised a prospective design. Data were collected from 31 men and 140 women at baseline, when they had not yet sustained injuries (hip fractures, other fractures or contortions and dislocations), and 8 weeks, 5 months and 12 months after their accident. Analysis of variance was used to test for differences in change in basic activities of daily living between baseline and follow-ups for men, for women and for the total study sample while adjusting for several covariates. RESULTS: The patients did not generally regain their pre-injury levels of functioning 12 months after their event. However, in contrast to the women, older men more closely reached their pre-injury levels of functioning. Although women deteriorated more than men, differences were not statistically significant at 8 weeks and 5 months post-injury. Long-term recovery, however, was significantly associated with gender when the impact of severity seemed to have expired. CONCLUSIONS: Recovery of basic activities of daily living one year after injuries to the extremities seems to be influenced by gender. Female patients recovered less well compared to males. These gender-related changes warrant concern and attention in clinical practice.

Accidental Falls↗
PubMed2003

People with stroke living in the community: Attention deficits, balance, ADL ability and falls.

PURPOSE: To describe levels of attention deficits among people with stroke living in the community and explore relationships between attention, balance, function and falls. METHOD: Forty-eight mobile community-dwelling people with stroke (30 men, 18 women, mean age 68.4 +/- 11.2) were recruited to this cross-sectional investigation through General Practitioners. Twenty-six participants had a right, 21 a left hemisphere infarction and one had a brain stem lesion; mean time since stroke was 46 months (range five to 204). Participants' were interviewed about fall-events; attention, balance and function were assessed using standardised tests. RESULTS: Visual inattention was identified in five participants (10%), deficits of sustained attention in 15 (31%), auditory selective attention in nine (19%), visual selective attention in 17 (35%) and divided attention deficits in 21 participants (43%). Sustained and divided attention scores correlated with balance, ADL ability and fall-status (p < 0.01). The balance and function of subjects with normal attention were better than those with abnormal scores (p < 0.01). Analysis of variance revealed differences between repeat-fallers and non-fallers with no near-falls for divided attention, balance and ADL ability (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Attention deficits were common among this sample; sustained and divided attention deficits correlated with functional impairments and falls, highlighting that attention deficits might contribute to accident prone behaviour and falling.

Accidental Falls↗