45,174Hospitalizations/ER visits in Missouri due to falls each year.
Each year 90 million Americans seek medical help for dizziness, vertigo or falls, with fall-risk and loss of independence being recognized as the #1 concern of older adults, who are the fastest-growing segment of the population. Dizziness can affect individuals of all ages spanning from birth to the elderly. Dizziness can occur in younger populations associated with a variety of medical syndromes, congenital hearing loss, pediatric migraines, and can result in delayed motor milestones as children develop. As children age and become more active, we may see dizziness problems as the result of sport related head traumas or con-cussions and even with hormone changes associated with puberty. Migraine re-lated dizziness can affect 1 in 4 females and 1 in 6 males, are three times more likely to experience dizziness and 25% of individuals with migraine will experi-ence vertigo with or without a headache. Individuals with Diabetes or with a his-tory of the Shingles virus are also at much higher risk of developing dizziness leading to diminished quality of life. Dizziness is the #3 complaint for all age groups, only preceded by backache and headache and it is the #1 complaint of persons aged 70 and older with 50% of people experiencing vertigo at least once by that age. Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) is another cause of diz-ziness, with vertigo being defined as more of a “room spinning” dizziness, and it is the #1 cause of vertigo in individuals over 50 years old but can occur at any age. At Physical Therapy Specialists Clinic, we have Certified Vestibular Thera-pists who are trained in providing vestibular assessment and rehabilitation to treat dizziness and vestibular dysfunctions.
143,054 Falls on average occur in Missouri each year
575 Deaths per year in Missouri are due to falls.
In 2010, 2.3 million people 65 and older across the U.S. were transported to hospitals or emergency departments for nonfatal injuries from falls.