[From article]
But the take-home message isn’t as simple as avoiding walking aids, said Lockhart, who was not involved in the study.
“It gives kind of a mixed message but the bottom line is the device in itself may not cause future accidents, but at the same time since there’s a relationship between fall risk and the device use, we need to watch out for that a little in the future,” he said.
While a cane might help with mobility, it could also make it more difficult for people to stabilize themselves during a fall, Lockhart noted.
“It’s almost all about how we recover” from loss of balance, he said.
[. . .]
Someone who needs a walking aid should be given balance and gait exercises and then be trained to safely use a walker or cane, including proper gait patterns and ways to avoid falls, she said. The training should also include complicated maneuvers like opening and closing doors with the aid.
Roman de Mettelinge cautioned that the results of the study applied to individuals in assisted care facilities, who tend to be older and in poorer health than people still living at home.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/06/us-elderly-health-walking-aids-idUSKBN0LA21G20150206
Canes, walkers linked to higher risk of falls
BY JANICE NEUMANN
Fri Feb 6, 2015 12:58pm EST
Reuters
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