Soft floors reduce hip fractures

Hard flooring could increase the risk of hip fractures

Hip fractures in the elderly could be reduced dramatically if floorings in residential homes are changed, a study suggests.

A team from the University of Warwick and the University of Edinburgh found carpeted wooden floors are the safest surfaces for elderly people.

Concrete floors were the most dangerous because of the force of impact a fall on a hard surface has.

The study was published in the journal Age and Ageing.

The study found sub-flooring, the flooring beneath carpet, was also an important factor.

Concrete sub-flooring was found to be more dangerous than wooden sub-flooring.

Serious consequences

Researchers looked at 6,641 falls and 222 fractures in 34 residential care homes for older people.

In 1990 there were an estimated 1.7 million hip fractures worldwide and this figure is expected to rise to 6.3 million by 2050. Professor Sallie Lamb, University of Warwick

They also measured the potential impact of a fall on different surfaces by using a machine that simulated a person.

They found the risk of breaking a hip would be reduced by 26.8% if carpeting on wooden floors was introduced in residential homes.

Dr Lorna Layward, research manager at Research into Ageing, which helped fund the study, said wooden floors with carpet help to lessen the impact because they have more 'give'.

She said although many homes already have wooden sub-flooring, more modern ones are likely to have concrete.

"Introducing softer flooring could help alleviate the serious pain, loss of independence, and death associated with hip fractures," she told BBC News Online.

"An elderly person dies every five hours because of a fall at home."

Lower risk floors

Professor Sallie Lamb, at the University of Warwick, said: "Residents of homes are typically frail and many have a tendency to falls.

"A fall for the elderly can have serious consequences and there is a need to help cushion floors as much as possible."

"The possible implications of our findings are considerable.

"In 1990 there were an estimated 1.7m hip fractures worldwide and this figure is expected to rise to 6.3m by 2050."

Researchers suggest it may be possible in the future to engineer a floor that has an even lower risk of a hip fracture occurring from a fall.

Dr Layward said she hoped the study will provide some evidence to make people look at what can be done to reduce the incidence of hip fractures in the elderly.