Table 1 Summary of the causes and activities associated with falls in older adults

Overstall et al., [6] (Hospital and community)

Tripping (47)

After rising (6)

Miscellaneous (12)

Drop attack (12)

Turning head (5)

Giddiness (9)

Loss of balance (8)

Brocklehurst et al., [27] (Hospital and community)

Trip (20)

Walking

Lost balance (32)

Standing

Drop attack (23)

Postural change

Loss of consciousness or “other” (20)

Lach et al., [25] (Community)

Extrinsic falls (55)

Contributing factors (% of fallers)

• slip (27)

• sensory (28)

• trip (21)

• shoes (26)

• displaced center of gravity (7)

• hurrying (14)

Intrinsic falls (31)

• external load (12)

• mobility system failure (4)

• not common activity (11)

• impaired balance (9)

• assistive devices (5)

• sensory impairment (1)

• medication/alcohol (2)

• cognitive impairment (12)

• impaired consciousness (6)

Non-bipedal stance (5)

• self-generated (5)

• support failure (<1)

Non-classifiable falls (9)

Topper et al., [8] (Assisted living)

Base-of-support (BOS) perturbation (46)

Don’t know (15)

• transfer with BOS problem (8)

• trip or tangle (23)

• slip (10)

Center-of-mass (COM) perturbation (28)

• pushed (5)

• collision (0)

• reaching, bending, turning (18)

• transfer without BOS problem (4)

No obvious perturbation (NOP) (14)

• loss of consciousness (3)

• no loss of consciousness (8)

Cumming & Klineberg, [24] (Hospital and community)

Trip (40)

Walking (42)

Location of the fall

Slip (10)

Being over (5)

• own residence (74)

Leg gave way (10)

Getting up (14)

• outside (16)

Postural change (12)

Sitting down (4)

• inside shop or club (6)

Dizziness loss of consciousness (10)

Turing around (8)

Other (18)

Using stairs (3)

Berg et al., [22] (Community)

Trip (34)

Walking on level ground (24)

Location of the fall

Slip (25)

Walking on uneven ground (24)

• home (58)

Misplaced step (12)

Hurrying to get work done (12)

• away from home (42)

Loss of balance (9)

Stair ascent and decent (14)

Time of the fall

Legs giving way (4)

Working in the yard (9)

• morning (30)

Knocked over (4)

Carrying something heavy (9)

• afternoon (52)

Loss of support (3)

Looking of turning (7)

• evening (14)

Other (9)

Exercising (7); Other (7)

• night (4)

Wild et al., [26] (Hospital and community)

Fell suddenly without warning (48)

Walking (53)

Environmental hazards

Trip, slip, miss (21)

Change of position (23)

• poor lighting (22)

Body gave way (11)

Stair ascend or descend (13)

• stairs (13)

Dizziness and giddiness (9)

Standing or dressing (10)

• carpets or rugs (4)

Light-headed (6)

Fell out of chair (5)

• wet floor (4)

Black-out (5)

Other (3)