Posters

Introduction Approximately 700,000 (10%) of UK emergency ambulance calls are to older adults who have fallen each year. Therefore this study aimed to answer: Who are the population of older adults who fall and call an emergency ambulance, what is their presentation and what ambulance response do they receive? Methods 12-months of anonymous retrospective electronic ambulance records from two regional English ambulance services were collected. Population: Patients aged 65 and older who called an emergency ambulance, were categorised as a fall during call triage, and received an ambulance. The

Introduction Around 10% of UK emergency ambulance calls (approximately 700,000) are to older adults who have fallen. Previous studies have explored the complex decision-making of ambulance staff, finding confidence to be a theme. This interview study aimed to explore understand the factors and experiences that impact the decision-making, confidence and actions of patient facing emergency ambulance staff when attending older adults who have fallen. Methods Semi-structured interviews with frontline emergency ambulance staff, purposively sampled from the recent UK-wide AMBOFALL eSurvey

Introduction One in three people aged 65 and over, and half of those aged 80 and over, fall each year. Previous interview studies found confidence affected ambulance staff decision-making, without exploring what impacts this confidence. This eSurvey aimed to describe the confidence in decision-making of patient facing emergency ambulance staff when attending older adults who have fallen, and the factors which impact this confidence. Methods Ambulance staff were eligible to participate in a national eSurvey, shared by all UK NHS/HSC ambulance services and on social media. Participants were

Introduction Best-practice guidelines recommend falls risk stratification algorithms to identify community aged care clients at risk of falls, and determine who could benefit from Allied Health Professional (AHP) input. However, implementation is constrained by logistical challenges of in-home service delivery. Virtual care delivery offers a promising solution. This study aimed to develop and test a falls risk stratification algorithm and a virtual, AHP-led falls service model for community aged care. Methods We conducted a four-phase, mixed methods study. Phase 1 scoping reviews of falls risk

Introduction: Very elderly individuals are at very high risk of falls and fragility fractures and treatment decisions are often complicated by frailty , multimorbidity and limited life expectancy. Intravenous Zoledronic acid offers effective fracture prevention with ones yearly dosing but safety and benefit in very frail older adults remains uncertain. Objectives: To evaluate the safety and clinical outcomes of iv Zoledronic acid in very elderly patients with corelation with baseline frailty status. Methods: A retrospective observational analysis was conducted in patients aged 85 year and

Introduction: Falls among older adults represent a public health concern. Simple functional tools such as the Eight Alternative Touches test may contribute to the early identification of fall risk and support preventive strategies. The objective of this study was to investigate whether the Eight Alternative Touches test predicts the occurrence of falls in older adults over a one-year period. Method: This longitudinal study included community-dwelling older adults followed for 12 months to record fall occurrences. At baseline, Eight Alternative Touches test, one of the items of the Balance

Title: Ultrasound Muscle Measures Improve Identification of Low Physical and Social Activity in Community-Dwelling Older Adults JQ Chia1,2, A Yeo2, CN Tan2, A Tandon3, WS Lim1,2, J Chew1,2 1Department of Geriatric Medicine, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore 2Institute of Geriatrics and Active Ageing, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore 3Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore Introduction Current sarcopenia diagnosis emphasises reduced muscle quantity. Ultrasound (US), which captures both muscle quantity and quality, may offer additional diagnostic value, but its

Introduction: Falls are common among older persons and can have a major impact on their lives. Wearable sensors offer a promising approach for fall risk screening. However, the acceptability and user experience of such technologies among older persons in their daily lives remain understudied. Therefore, it is important to gain a deeper understanding of how older persons experience this type of technology. Method: A qualitative study was conducted using individual interviews with 21 participants (13 women and 8 men, aged 77–81 years) who had used a wearable sensor for one week to screen for

Introduction Falls among older adults represent a major public health problem. Although fall risk stratification is a key component of prevention, its application in clinical practice remains challenging. Differences in assessment methods may affect the identification of individuals at low to moderate risk and influence the selection of appropriate interventions. Methods This descriptive study recruited older adults of both sexes. Sociodemographic data and health conditions were collected, and three key questions related to falls were applied. Participants were assessed for criteria associated

Introduction Immedicare, a digitally-enabled, round-the-clock NHS clinical service provides remote support to care homes nationwide, with approximately a quarter of clinical consultations pertaining to falls.Falls in older people are often multifactorial, with medication being a significant modifiable risk factor. In July 2024, Immedicare’s pharmacy team launched a targeted, remote falls medication review service (FMRS) to support residents who had fallen and were prescribed at least one medicine identified as contributing to falls, according to the STOPPFall tool (Seppala et al, A&A, 2021)

Introduction Falls are a leading cause of Emergency Department (ED) attendance among older adults and are associated with recurrent visits and high healthcare costs. From January 2023 to December 2024, our ED at Tan Tock Seng Hospital received 3,632 patients aged ≥65 years with falls or falls-related injuries, with an estimated annual cost of SGD 20 million. Despite guideline recommendations for early identification and multifactorial intervention, ED implementation remains inconsistent with frequent re-attendance. Methods FIRST-FALL, implemented in July 2024, is a quality improvement

Introduction: Macclesfield Hospital has a busy trauma ward where the orthogeriatrics team primarily manages patients admitted with fractured neck of femur. We identified inconsistent communication of bone health management plans to community and rheumatology teams at discharge, particularly regarding zoledronic acid infusion dates and follow-up arrangements which posed a risk to continuity of care. A baseline audit reviewed three months of discharge summaries for patients aged over 65 admitted with fractured neck of femur, assessing documentation of FRAX score, vitamin D status, zoledronic

INTRODUCTION Falls represent a significant problem faced by older people, with around a third of people aged 65 and over, and half of those over 80 falling at least once a year. Falls can lead to serious injury, loss of independence, and significant emotional distress. The financial cost to the NHS is estimated as £2.3 billion annually, making fall prevention a crucial public health issue. National guidance (NICE, 2025) recommends Interventions such as fall’s prevention programmes should be offered targeting balance, co-ordination, strength and power. The planned community therapy team

Introduction: Falls are a prevalent issue impacting older people in care homes. Injuries can occur after a fall like fractures and there are many tools in use to manage patients who fall. However, few that focus on care home residents. Action Falls is a checklist that aids in diagnosing and highlighting risk of falls while providing healthcare professionals direct actions to take for prevention. Method: Interviews were conducted over 4 weeks via Microsoft Teams. 3 doctors from each of the specialties Orthopaedics, General Practice, Geriatrics and 4 Psychiatrists were participants to a total 13

Introduction Falls in older adults are a leading cause of injury, hospitalisation and loss of independence, with sarcopenia a major modifiable risk reduction factor. Acute illness and hospitalisation accelerate muscle loss, further increasing risk of falls. Adequate protein intake and resistance exercise are central to maintaining muscle mass and function. This systematic review examined how protein type, dose and timing affect muscle mass, strength and function in hospitalised or recently discharged older adults. Methods A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

BACKGROUND Major trauma is conventionally associated with high-energy mechanisms such as road traffic collisions or falls from height. However, ground-level falls (GLFs) , defined as unintentional descents to the ground from standing height or below , are an increasingly recognised cause of serious injury and death in older adults.[1,2] Despite appearing to involve low-energy forces, GLFs frequently result in devastating injuries in elderly patients, driven by age-related physiological changes including osteoporosis, frailty, and anticoagulant use.[3,5] With the UK's older population growing

BACKGROUND Early dementia diagnosis brings significant benefits - enabling patients and families to plan ahead, access support services, begin appropriate disease management, and potentially participate in clinical trials.[1] In the UK, the majority of patients with cognitive concerns first present to their general practitioner (GP). Despite national efforts to improve early detection, NHS England data from 2024 indicate that only around 65% of people aged 65 and over estimated to have dementia had a formally recorded diagnosis,[2] suggesting a persistent diagnostic gap. Timely diagnosis is

Introduction: Many people living with dementia have one or more physical health conditions. For example, they may have heart problems, cancer, diabetes or vision difficulties. These conditions are likely to require attendance at hospital appointments, which can be difficult for people with dementia and those who support them. Aims: To co-design and test a toolkit to help staff improve experiences of hospital outpatient appointments for people living with dementia and their families. Methods: We undertook an ethnographic study in five general hospital outpatient departments. Interviews

Background: Rib fractures in older adults are a marker of physiological vulnerability and are associated with complications that can extend well beyond the inpatient stay. While advanced thoracic analgesia and regional techniques are widely used to reduce pain, splinting, and respiratory deterioration, the relationship between these interventions and post-discharge outcomes is less clearly described. We evaluated 30-day post-discharge mortality in patients aged ≥65 admitted with rib fractures, comparing those who received advanced thoracic analgesia/regional intervention versus those who did

Abstract Content - Background: Tandem stance is a key measure of static balance, yet existing tests often lack standardization, rely on ordinal scoring, and fail to account for upper-limb support, reducing accuracy and sensitivity. The SAS Mat was developed to address these limitations. The Mat can be used as the SAS Measure of tandem balance, and as a balance training tool. This study evaluated its test–retest reliability, convergent validity, acceptability, and feasibility in healthy older adults. Methods: A convenience sample of 44 community-dwelling adults aged ≥65 years, with independent