| Sumario: | Participants: W. J. Choi (Korea), Y. Yang (Hong Kong), K. Lim (Korea), C. Y. Ho (Hong Kong). ISSUE Consequences of falls in older adults (i.e., hip fracture) are often life-threatening, and prevention is important. While tremendous efforts have been made so far to address fall-related hip fractures in older adults, fall-related death rates in older adults have continuously increased over the decades, requiring continued supports for research, development and application in safe activities of daily living. CONTENT Our symposium is designed to provide basic knowledge on the science of falling and hip fracture in older adults and associated intervention strategies (i.e., primarily wearable hip protectors), with a hope to guide future research and practice to address the issue. The symposium discusses hip fracture mechanisms and associated risk factors with a great emphasis on the circumstances of falls that lead to hip fracture and the role of soft tissue over the hip region, so called "natural padding device", in determining hip fractures during a fall. The symposium also discusses wearable hip protectors, including its user compliance (acceptance and adherence) and novel design of hip protectors. STRUCTURE Choi first provides an overview on the science under fall-related hip fractures in older adults. Next, Yang talks about circumstances of falls that lead to hip fractures in older adults. After that, Lim talks about the role of trochanteric soft tissue (what/why is important) in context of hip fracture risk in the event of a fall. Finally, Ho provides some results on the user compliance of hip protectors in Hong Kong area and a newly designed hip protector that may help to improve protection and compliance. CONCLUSION A potential reason why the fall-related injuries in older adults have not been sufficiently addressed so far, may be due, in part, to ineffective interventions developed up on incomplete understanding of the injury mechanisms and circumstances. Continued efforts and concerns are warranted to solve the growing problem in a fast ageing society.
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