Vulnerability of elderly falls followed for hip fracture

Abstract

The present study is a descriptive qualitative research that was developed in a clinical surgery unit of a university hospital. One aimed to identify elderly people vulnerability factors related to falls whose consequences were hip fractures. The subjects were thirteen caregivers of elderly patients with hip fractures after falls, hospitalized in the period from April to November 2008. The instruments of data collection were searching the promptuary of the elderly and structured interviews. Data were analyzed based on vulnerability referential and were categorized under individual/biological, social and programmatical/institutional dimensions. Thus, concluded that the planning of public health professionals should include the individual and collective aspects of this population, to mitigate the incidence of hip fractures after falls.

Nursing; Health of the Elderly; Health Vulnerability; Hip Fractures; Hospitalization