The Falls and Fractures

The Falls and Fractures Special Interest Group

Leader: Alvaro Cassas Herrero Nathalie van der Velde

Objectives

  • To connect geriatricians, other health care workers, researchers and students throughout Europe with an interest in falls and fractures prevention with the aim to create and support a European network
  • To update knowledge related to falls and fracture prevention
  • To successfully disseminate knowledge on falls and fracture prevention to health care workers, students and the older population at risk
  • To (co)develop and support effective falls and fracture preventive interventions and to stimulate a personalized approach  
  • To harmonize practices on falls and fracture management across Europe

Outcomes

  • Participation steering committee and co-chairing World Falls Guidelines

     

  • Several publications including statement and position papers and original research (please see below)

  • Organization of several symposia and meetings including ongoing digital SIG meeting sessions including state of the art lectures (please see below)

  • Participation organizing committee European Falls Festival (bi-annual European conference of Falls and Postural Instability)

  • Collaboration with Fragility Fracture Network (FFN), participation in FFN executive board and congress committee

  • Collaboration with ESCEO, IOF, WCO (joint symposia)

  • Founding of a Fall-risk-increasing drugs (FRID) Task and Finish group directed by prof. Nathalie van der Velde in 2017 (see EuGMS webpage for details and contact)

  • Development of interactive, online deprescribing tool for FRIDs (fall-risk increasing drugs: Age and Ageing 2020; 1-11 doi: 10.1093/ageing/afaa249 Link to accompanying deprescribing tool for STOPPFall: https://kik.amc.nl/falls/decision-tree/

Ongoing Projects

Next meeting of the group

Past symposia (5yrs)

  • EUGMS-ESCEO JOINT SYMPOSIUM at the WCO-IOF-ESCEO 2024 conference Improving fragility fracture care: a multidisciplinary perspective Chairperson : Tahir Masud • Optimizing fracture prevention and rehabilitation in frail older persons: the exercise & physiotherapy perspective Dawn Skelton • Optimizing fracture prevention and rehabilitation in frail older persons: the nursing & care home perspective Ellen Vlaeyen
  • Symposium of the SIG on Falls and Fractures @ 19th EuGMS Congress, Helsinki 2023 HOW TO OPTIMIZE YOUR PERSONALIZED, INTEGRAL FALLS AND FRACTURE PREVENTION IN CLINICAL CARE; RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE EUGMS SIG FALLS & FRACTURES Chairs: Hana Vankova, Czech Republic, Lotta Seppala, The Netherlands 1. Falls prevention as integral part of fracture prevention Jesper Ryg, Denmark 2. The overlap between syncope and falls: optimizing cardiovascular falls prevention Robert Briggs, Ireland 3. Preventing falls in patients with Parkinson and Parkinson-like disease Alice Nieuwboer, Belgium
  • Symposium oUTCOMES OF SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITIES FROM EUGMS SIGs Chairs: Jerzy Gasowski, Poland, Antonio Cherubini, Italy 1. Pharmacology SIG Martin Wehling, Germany 2. Delirium SIG Suzanne Timmons, Ireland 3. Falls and Fracture SIG Nathalie Van der Velde, The Netherlands
  • 'The 1st World Falls Guidelines: falls and fracture prevention are intertwined' watch this EuGMS-ESCEO symposium recording at the WCO-IOF-ESCEO 2023 conference by prof. Tahir Masud (UK) and prof. Nathalie van der Velde (The Netherlands), co-chairs of the World Guidelines on Falls Prevention and Management. [Watch this presentation]
  • Symposium of the SIG on Falls and Fractures @ 17th EuGMS Congress, Athens 2021
  • What's new in Syncope by Rose Anne Kenny. Watch this presentation
  • What's new in fracture prevention: the FFN perspective by David Marsh. Watch this presentation
  • What's new in fall prevention: World Falls Guidelines initiative by Nathalie van der Velde. Watch this presentation
  • Organization T&F group on FRIDs symposium at online EuGMS Congress 2020: tot treat or not to treat: drug- versus disease-related fall risk (link to presentations)
  • Organization joint SIG Fall and Fractures and fragility fracture network (FFN) symposium at 2019 EuGMS congress in Krakow: Nutrition and fragility fractures

Past meetings

Publications

World guidelines for falls prevention and management for older adults: a global initiative. Montero-Odasso M, van der Velde N, …,Masud T; Task Force on Global Guidelines for Falls in Older Adults.Age Ageing. Age Ageing . 2022 Sep 2;51(9):afac205. doi: 10.1093/ageing/afac205.

New horizons in falls prevention and management for older adults: a global initiative.
Montero-Odasso M, van der Velde N, …,Masud T; Task Force on Global Guidelines for Falls in Older Adults.Age Ageing. 2021 May 26:afab076. doi: 10.1093/ageing/afab076.

Translations:

French: [Synthesis in French of the 2022 global recommendations for the management and prevention of falls in the elderly]. Blain H. et al. Geriatr Psychol Neuropsychiatr Vieil. 2023 Jun 1;21(2):149-160. doi: 10.1684/pnv.2023.1108.

(Co)writing several book chapters on falls prevention including recently ‘Practical issues in Geriatrics: Orthogeriatrics’ ed. Falaschi P,Marsh D. 2021 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48126-1

Update knowledge related to fall-risk-increasing drugs (FRID) (Fall-risk-increasing drugs Task and Finish group): Three systematic reviews on FRID, statement papers,development of the STOPPFalls deprescribing tool and special issue on deprescribing dilemma’s concerning FRIDs :

van der Velde N, Seppala LJ…. Petrovic M. European position paper on polypharmacy and fall-risk-increasing drugs recommendations in the World Guidelines for Falls Prevention and Management: implications and implementation. Eur Geriatr Med. 2023 Aug;14(4):649-658. doi: 10.1007/s41999-023-00824-8.

L.J. Seppala, M. Petrovic…, N. van der Velde. STOPPFall (Screening Tool of Older Persons Prescriptions in older adults with high fall risk): a Delphi study by the EuGMS Task and Finish Group on Fall-Risk-Increasing Drugs. Age and Ageing 2020; 1-11 doi: 10.1093/ageing/afaa249

Link to accompanying deprescribing tool for STOPPFall: https://kik.amc.nl/falls/decision-tree/

Seppala LJ, van der Velde N, Masud T, Blain H, Petrovic M, et al; EuGMS Special Interest Group on Pharmacology. EuGMS Task and Finish group on Fall-Risk-Increasing Drugs (FRIDs): Position on Knowledge Dissemination, Management, and Future Research. Published in Drugs Aging. 2019 Apr;36(4):299-307 and Eur Geriatr Med (2019) 10: 275.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs40266-018-0622-7

de Vries M, Seppala LJ, Daams JG, van de Glind EMM, Masud T, van der Velde N; EUGMS Task and Finish Group on Fall-Risk-Increasing Drugs. Fall-Risk-Increasing Drugs: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis: I. Cardiovascular Drugs. Published in J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2018 Apr;19(4):371.e1-371.e9.
https://www.jamda.com/article/S1525-8610(17)30698-9/abstract

Seppala LJ, Wermelink AMAT, de Vries M, Ploegmakers KJ, van de Glind EMM, Daams JG, van der Velde N; EUGMS task and Finish group on fall-risk-increasing drugs. Fall-Risk-Increasing Drugs: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis: II. Psychotropics. Published in J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2018 Apr;19(4):371.e11-371.e17.
https://www.jamda.com/article/S1525-8610(17)30784-3/abstract

Seppala LJ, van de Glind EMM, Daams JG, Ploegmakers KJ, de Vries M, Wermelink AMAT, van der Velde N; EUGMS Task and Finish Group on Fall-Risk-Increasing Drugs. Fall-Risk-Increasing Drugs: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis: III. Others. Published in J Am Med Dir Assoc. 018 Apr;19(4):372.e1-372.e8.
https://www.jamda.com/article/S1525-8610(17)30785-5/abstract

Special issue on clinical reviews regardings deprescribing dilemmas among FRID users: Volume 14, Issue 4 | European Geriatric Medicine (springer.com)

Publication of the EUGMS position paper on falls and fractures in Europe in link with EUMS, ESCO, and IOF:

Blain H, Masud T, Dargent-Molina P, Martin FC, et al. EUGMS Falls and Fracture Interest Group; European Society for Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis and Osteoarthritis (ESCEO), Osteoporosis Research and Information Group (GRIO), and International osteoporosis Foundation (IOF). A Comprehensive Fracture Prevention Strategy in Older Adults: The European Union Geriatric Medicine Society (EUGMS) Statement.

published in   J Nutr Health Aging. 2016;20(6):647-52.

published in Aging Clin Exp Res. 2016;28(4):797-803.

published in Eur Geriatr Med 2016 dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eurger.2016.04.012

Members

N° of members: 175

 

Founded

September 2014

Contact

Secretary: Lotta Seppälä

FALLS & FRACTURES - OPEN SIG MEETING: March 17th 2022
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