Investigating Lavender for Decreasing The Risk of Falling in Elderly Population in Kingston WA

Each year, millions of elderly people are treated in emergency departments because of falls. The average hospital cost for a fall injury is $35,000. The costs of treating injuries related to falls increase with age. What if there was a simple natural therapy that could decrease the risk of falling in elderly populations? Read on to learn more about the effect lavender could have on the elderly in Kingston WA.

How Can Lavender And Falls Be Related In Kingston WA?

A study referenced below investigated the effects of a lavender intervention on fall incidence in elderly nursing home residents. The study was conducted at three nursing homes in northern Japan. One hundred and forty-five nursing home residents aged 65 and older participated in the study for a 360-day period. Continuous lavender olfactory stimulation was applied from a lavender patch. An unscented patch was used for the placebo group. Outcomes that the study measured included the number of resident falls and a behavioral index score that measured agitation related to dementia. The results of the study showed there were fewer fallers and fewer incidences of falling in the group of residents that received lavender. The lavender group also had decreased agitation as measured by the behavioral index called CMAI (Cohen Mansfield agitation inventory). In conclusion, lavender may be beneficial in reducing the risk of falling and in reducing agitation in the elderly that live in nursing homes.

References:

• Fall Prevention Using Olfactory Stimulation With Lavender Odor in Elderly Nursing Home Residents: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Yuko Sakamoto, MSc; Satoru Ebihara, MD, PhD; Takae Ebihara, MD, PhD; Naoki Tomita, MD, PhD, MPH; Kenji Toba, MD, PhD; Shannon Freeman, MSc; Hiroyuki Arai, MD, PhD; Masahiro Kohzuki, MD, PhD. Journal of the American Geriatric Society. 2012;60(6):1005-1011.
• Stevens JA, Corso PS, Finkelstein EA, Miller TR. The costs of fatal and nonfatal falls among older adults. Injury Prevention 2006a;12:290–5.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Web–based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) [online]. Accessed August 15, 2013.
• Carroll, N. V., Slattum, P. W., & Cox, F. M. (2005). The cost of falls among the community-dwelling elderly. J Manag Care Pharm, 11(4), 307-16.