Do community-dwelling adults with cancer have higher rates of accidental falls?

Background: Both cancer. and the side-effects of cancer treatment may increase risk of accidental falls through irppacts on musculoskeletal and neurological health. Literature describing fall rates in community-dwelling cancer survivors is sparse.

Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted in December 2013 searching for (cancer or oncology) and accidental falls in prospective and retrospective cohort and case-controlled studies. Papers were reviewed by two researchers and included if they reported on any cancer (except leukaemia) in' participants that were free-living in the community. Studies conducted in acute hospitals and hospice (palliative care) were excluded.

Results: Out of 442 papers initially identified, ten were included in the review. Of these, 4 included a control or comparator group and were able to be included in a meta-analysis (n=163 307). The risk ratio for falls for the cancer group was 1.72 (95%CI ·1.64, 1.81). Rates of injurious falls are not well documented.

Conclusions: Accidental fall rates in community-dwelling adults are higher than the general population. The reasons for these are various, and include deconditioning, loss of .muscle strength and power and impacts on sensory inputs to balance and balance control. Comparison of different studies was difficult because of different parameters used in fall definitions and recording timeframes. Consistent use of reporting measures, such as falls/100 person years, would allow synthesis of studies to be performed more thoroughly.