Understanding sciences behind fall-related hip fractures in older adults is important to develop effective interventions for prevention. The aim of this review is to provide biomechanical understanding and prevention strategies of falls and related hip fractures in older adults, in order to guide future research directions from biomechanical perspectives. While most hip fractures are due to a fall, a few of falls are injurious causing hip fractures, and most falls are non-injurious. Fall mechanics are important in determining injurious versus non-injurious falls. Many different biomechanical factors contribute to the risk of hip fracture, and effects of each individual factors are known well. However, combining effects, and correlation and causation among the factors are poorly understood. While fall prevention interventions include exercise, vision correction, vitamin D intake and environment modification, injury prevention strategies include use of hip protectors, compliant flooring and safe landing strategies, vitamin D intake and exercise. While fall risk assessments have well been established, limited efforts have been made for injury risk assessments. Better understanding is necessary on the correlation and causation among factors affecting the risk of falls and related hip fractures in older adults. Development of the hip fracture risk assessment technique is required to establish more efficient intervention models for fall-related hip fractures in older adults.

While efforts have been made to address fall-related injuries in older adults, the problem is unsolved to date. The purpose of this review is to provide a guideline for fall and injury prevention programs in older adults, based on evidence generated over the past 30 years. Research articles published between 1990 and 2020 have been searched on PubMed, using keywords, including but not limited to, falls, hip fracture, injuries, intervention, older adults, prevention, hip protector, vitamin D, safe landing strategy, and exercise. Total of 98 articles have been found and categorized into five intervention areas: exercise program, hip protector, safe landing strategy, vitamin D intake, and compliant flooring. Furthermore, the articles have been rated based on their study design: class 1, randomized controlled trials; class 2, nonrandomized controlled trials; class 3, experimental studies; class 4, all other studies. Exercise programs have shown to decrease the risk of fall, and associated injuries. Hip protectors, safe landing strategy, and vitamin D intake were effective in reducing a risk and incidence of hip fracture during a fall. Furthermore, compliant flooring has also decreased hip fracture risk without affecting balance. An integrated approach combining exercise program, wearing a hip protector, teaching safe landing strategies, scheduled vitamin D intake, and compliant flooring installation, is suggested to address fall-related injuries in older adults.

Background: Fall-related injuries in older adults are a major health problem, and the risks and mechanisms of these injuries should be affected by race, culture, living environment, and/or economic status. Objects: Research articles have been systematically reviewed to understand fall-related injuries in older adults in South Korea. Methods: 128 published research papers have been found through the Korea Citation Index and the Korean Studies Information Service System, and reviewed in various perspectives, including incidents, fall death rates, medical costs, causes, injury sites and types, locations where falls occurred, prevention strategies, scholarly fields interested in fall injuries, and the role of physical therapy. Results: Fall-related injuries were found to be more common in women than in men, and the number of incidents increased with age, with the highest rate found in individuals over 85 years old. Risk of fall injury was associated with education level, comorbidities, and fear of falling. Common places where falls occurred included the bathroom, living room, stairs, and hallway. Common types of injury included bruises, fractures, and sprains in the lower extremities. Intervention strategies included exercise programs, education, and protective clothing. Scholarly fields interested in fall-related injuries in older adults included medicine, nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, physical education, pharmacology, oriental medicine, biomedical engineering, design, clothing, and textiles. Physical therapy intervention using proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation has been used to improve one’s balance. Conclusion: Any movement during the activities of daily living can lead to a fall. Physical therapists are highly educated to analyze human movements and should be involved in more research and practices to solve fall-related injuries in older adults.

Legume seed isoflavones may have a variety of desirable physiological effect on the human health including both the circulatory and skeletal systems. The present study was performed to determine the isoflavone content of leaf and seed as well as to purify and identify the types of isoflavone from leaf extract of hyacinth bean (Lablab purpureus (L.) Sweet). Reverse phase HPLC revealed six different types of isoflavone such as daidzin, genistin, daidzein, genistein, 6"-o-acetyl genistin and 6"-o-acetyl daidzin in aqueous methanol extract from seeds and leaves of the hyacinth bean. Relatively, leaf isoflavone content of hyacinth bean was greater than seed isoflavone content. Using DiAion HP-20 silica gel and sephadex LH-20 chromatography, pure daidzein was identified in the ether layer, whereas genistin was in the EtOAC fraction.

The effect of Dolichos lablab leave extract on enzyme activities in mice blood was investigated in this study to clarify the new useful application of the plant leaves. There were not significant differences in the enzyme activities in mice blood among treatment fed with the leave extract and non fed control. The feeding treatment with the extract showed a tendency to activity compared to the non fed control. The activities of glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase, glutamate pyruvate transaminase and lactate dehydrogenase in mice blood at the treatment fed with lead and the leave extract were significantly low compared to their activities at the non fed treatment with the extract, respectively. The choline esterase activity was high at the leave extract feeding. The cadmium dietary treatment showed the same result as the lead treatment. In conclusion, the physiological function of the Jebikong leave was significantly in creased when the mice was stressed by the heavy metal intake. Therefore, the plant leave extract would consider the reduction of heavy metal effect.