The Falls and Fractures

The Falls and Fractures Special Interest Group

Leader: Hubert Blain 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

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 STOPPFalls: https://kik.amc.nl/falls/decision-tree/
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
Organization joint symposium SIG Falls and Fractures and fragility fracture network (FFN) at 2018 EuGMS congress in Berlin, Germany: Osteosarcopenia: a new geriatric syndrome
Organization joint symposium with FFN at 2017 EuGMS congress in Nice
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)
Founding of the FRID (Fall-Risk Increasind Drugs) Task and Finish group with Organization of a symposium at 2016 EuGMS congress in Lisbon:
Falls and Fracture Prevention in Older Adults : a tour around Europe
Organization joint symposium EuGMS SIG Falls Prevention and Fracture and ProFouND/EIP on AHA and EUNAAPA at 2015 EuGMS congress in Oslo

Projects & Events

'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]
EuGMS SIG Falls & Fractures- Pan-European survey on falls prevention
EuGMS SIG on FALLS & FRACTURES - OPEN MEETING: July 7th 2022
Open Meeting of the SIG on Falls and Fractures March 17th, 2022
Symposium of the SIG on Falls and Fractures @ 17th EuGMS Congress, Athens 2021
- What's new in Syncope by Rose Anne Kelly. 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
Online EuGMS Falls and Fracture meeting July 8th, 2021 - 6pm CEST: WHO technical package on falls prevention Step Safely & discussion on aims, objectives and future projects
Online symposium EuGMS 2021 (Athens) SIG Falls and Fractures: ‘New Horizons in falls and fracture management: an update from the EuGMS SIG Falls and Fractures’
Online meeting of SIG Falls and Fractures at 2021 EuGMS congress in Athens
Participation steering committee and co-chairing ongoing initiativeTask force on Global Falls Guideline for Older Adults initiative (GlobalFallsGuideline)
(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

Next meeting of the group

19th EuGMS International Congress, Helsinki September 20-22 - SIG Collateral Meeting - OPEN - SEPT 20th from 10.30am to 11.30am Helsinki TIME
EuGMS SIG Falls and Fractures OPEN MEETING:June 22nd 2023 - recording: https://youtu.be/2ch4T1Al3l4
EuGMS SIG on FALLS & FRACTURES & GERIATRIC REHABILITATION - OPEN SIG MEETING: March 8th 2023 : recording of the meeting
18th EuGMS International Congress, London September 28-30 - SIG Collateral Meeting - OPEN - SEPT 29th from 06.30pm to 08.00pm UK TIME
please find hereafter the link to the video: https://youtu.be/WY0zuTya0sI and read more
FALLS & FRACTURES - OPEN SIG MEETING: March 17th 2022
17th EuGMS International Congress, Athens October 11-13 - SIG Collateral Meeting - OPEN- OCT 12th from 11.00am to 12.30pm CEST
Online EuGMS Falls and Fracture meeting July 8th, 2021 - 6pm CEST: presentation of WHO technical package on Falls management (Clemens Becker) and discussion of aims and projects SIG coming years
Please consult the MINUTES of the metting and the slides presented by Prof Becker
Online SIG member meeting EuGMS Congress Athens October 2021

Publications

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. Online ahead of print.PMID: 34038522

Update knowledge related to fall-risk-increasing drugs (FRID) (Fall-risk-increasing drugs Task and Finish group) : Three systematic reviews on FRID, a statement paper and development of the STOPPFalls deprescribing tool:

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 STOPPFalls: 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

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