No matter what you call it, I feel like a ticking time bomb, never knowing if the time will come where another clot ultimately goes to my brain, and it’s lights out–permanently. The docs assured me that wouldn’t happen, but who knows? It’s just the docs’ educated guesses, one after another. I have an educated guess, too. I may be fucked.
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| A stroke survivor |
So to take my mind off death, for the moment, I started to research falls as related to stroke survivors. Between 40 to 70% of stroke survivors worldwide have serious falls within a year of their stroke. I had many falls, most my own fault out of chancy stupidity and a few not. Here’s some of my favorite findings, from 5 of the 7 continents. South America has an excuse. (And is anybody even living in Antarctica?) All continents used international and certifiable scales as related to stroke survivors and the falls they encountered.
NORTH AMERICA
Focus: Improving walking and reducing falls post-stroke
Background: California researchers understood that better comprehension of falls was imperative, as broken bones, hips the most common, and head trauma might be the result.
So ambulatory stroke survivors were enrolled in Locomotor Experience Applied Post Stroke (LEAPS) and were assessed 2 months post-stroke. Falls were assessed for 12 months post-stroke and participants were characterized as: multiple or injurious (M/I); single, non-injurious (S/NI); or non-fallers.
Results: The results were alarming. Among the 408 participants, 36% were M/I, 21% S/NI, and 43% non-fallers. A majority of falls occurred at home in the first 3 months. Although multiple fallers are not at higher risk for injury for any given fall, cumulative injury risk increases with each fall. Thus, falls prediction and management for individuals post-stroke should focus on multiple falls.
* a locomotor training program (LTP) that included use of the treadmill followed by walking practice 2 months post-stroke
* a progressive strength and balance exercise program provided by a physical therapist in the home started 2 months post-stroke.
* late LTP, 6-months post-stroke
Each program was provided for 36 sessions over 16 weeks and was monitored between 2 and 12 months post-stroke. The researchers defined a fall as, “A person has a fall if they end up on the ground or floor when they did not expect to. Most often a fall starts while a person is on their feet, but a fall could also start from a chair or bed. If a person ends up on the ground, either on their knees, their belly, their side, their bottom, or their back, they have had a fall.”
Of individuals who fell, 74% had at least one fall from which they could not get up independently. Fall rate per person year was 1.76 overall, 1.33 for moderately impaired walkers, and 2.13 for severely impaired walkers. But here’s the thing: Of the three groups, there was no difference in overall fall incidence between 2 and 12 months post-stroke. And between 2 and 6-months post-stroke, both groups receiving early intervention had a higher fall rate than individuals in the late-LTP group. Over-confidence, the researchers theorized.
AUSTRALIA
Focus: Falls in older adults with strokes
Background: This Australian study aimed at two things: probe the differences in the incidence of falls between chronic stroke subjects and matched non-stroke subjects who were 65 years or older and community dwellers, and establishing factors associated with falling with chronic stroke survivors.
ASIA
Focus: Risk factors and management in stroke survivors who have fallen
Results: In a 5-year study of 56 falls in 41 stroke patients hospitalized for rehabilitation, 30 patients fell once, 9 patients twice and 2 patients four times, obtained from the medical and nursing records.
EUROPE
Focus: Patient Falls in Stroke Rehabilitation
Background: Falling is a major complication in stroke rehabilitation. This study intends to investigate the incidence, characteristics, and consequences of falls in an in-patient stroke rehabilitation setting.
Precisely 161 patients were admitted to a geriatric stroke rehabilitation unit. Falls that occurred during their stay were registered and analyzed. The study was performed at the stroke rehabilitation unit of the geriatric clinic at Umeå University Hospital, Sweden. This unit is a 24-bed ward that specializes in stroke care and rehabilitation; patients are usually admitted from acute-care clinics 2 to 4 weeks after their strokes.
Results: 62 of the patients (39%) suffered falls. The total number of falls was 153, which corresponds to an incidence rate of 159 falls per 10,000 patient days. Most falls occurred during transfers or from sitting in a wheelchair or on some other kind of furniture. 17 falls (11%) were classified as the result of extrinsic mechanisms, 49 (32%) were intrinsic falls, 39 (25%) occurred in a sitting or lying position, and 48 falls (31%) remained unclassified. No injury was observed in 109 of 153 incidents (71%), whereas 6 falls (4%) involved fractures or other serious injury.
(Per the above: For falls with an extrinsic precipitating cause, the most significant risk factors were: age, diabetes mellitus, a history of falling, and treatment with neuroleptics or oral bronchodilators. For falls with an intrinsic precipitating cause, the independent risk factors were: age, diabetes, dementia, alterations of gait and balance, previous falls, and treatment with digitalins, neuroleptics or antidepressants).
AFRICA
Postural balance is closely related to gait ability. A strong relationship has been reported between gait velocity and dynamic balance in the acute rehabilitation period among patients with first time stroke.
“We did not find significant differences in the gait speed and cadence between fallers and non-fallers, though the non-fallers had higher gait speed and cadence values. The reason for this result may be because all our participants could ambulate independently and therefore had similar gait speeds and balance performance,” say the researchers.
Stroke survivors with higher cadences had higher functional reach distances, and those with higher gait speeds had better balance. This implies that gait speed and cadence are factors related to balance performance and should be considered during balance and gait retraining.
There should have been 6 continents in my review about falls and stroke survivors, but The American Heart Association says the following about South America:
this continent to reduce the impact burden of this epidemic.“
Preventing Falls
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Use nightlights in bedrooms, bathrooms and hallways. If the light bothers your eyes, wear a mask. I don’t. I deal with it. But either way.
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Sit on a bench or stool with a handle in the shower and use a hand-held showerhead.
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Secure area rugs with double-sided tape.
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Review medications with your doctor as some may cause dizziness and balance problems.
- Slow down and take all the time you need when walking. There is no need to hurry, and it may be safer to go more slowly. By the way, since most of my falls were in the kitchen, bending over to pick up something that landed me on the floor, I bought a used wheelchair, got a new cushion, and always use it when I’ve dropped something on the floor. I sit, retrieve, and stand. So much easier!
Granted, all strokes suck, but falling compounds strokes, like broken hips or bleeding heads. Keep that in mind.
My mind works faster than my body will allow and I have had major breaks due to this but now I stop, think, than move!!!LOU
I don't remember signing a release form for my PT describing that I will assume all responsibility from the dangers of learning to walk again. Side effects could include broken bones, sprains even death.