Mobile Technology for Falls Prevention in Older Adults

Katherine L. Hsieh, PhD, Lingjun Chen, MS,2 and Jacob J. Sosnoff, PhD J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci, 2023 https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glac116

To address the consequences of falls in older adults and the need for the implementation of evidence-based fall prevention programs, The World Congress on Falls and Postural Instability has suggested implementing a P4 model (personalization, prediction, prevention, and participation) to optimize fall prevention strategies. In this review, the authors explored how this P4 model has been integrated into mobile device applications for fall risk screening and prevention, along with the validity and usability of these applications.

The results suggest that many applications focus primarily on the measurement of fall risk factors for screening, typically using smartphone IMUs (accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers) to objectively measure static and dynamic balance. However, It was found that only a few mobile device applications integrated prevention strategies, and none included the full P4 model (personalization, prediction, prevention, participation). The authors highlighted the need for more comprehensive applications that assess multiple risk factors and integrate all components of this model.

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