title: [Practitioners facing balance disorders in older subjects].
abstract: As life expectancy keeps increasing, balance disorders in older patients represent a major medical and public health issue, mostly because they are the most important risk factor for repeated falls. The inevitable deterioration of the physiological mechanisms which control balance explains their important prevalence and their often multifactor nature. A multidisciplinary approach should thus be adopted. However, during physical examination, practitioners can and must identify the general causes (polymedication, metabolic or cardiovascular diseases, etc.), take certain simple environmental actions and, most importantly, look for risk factors for falls. Falls are indeed the first complication of balance disorders and represent a frequent cause of mortality, loss of independence and high institutionalization and, as such, have serious socioeconomic consequences. Any balance disorder in older subjects thus requires in-depth examination and quick medical management.
authors.affiliation: Service ORL adultes, hôpital Lariboisière, AP-HP 75475 Paris Cedex 10. patrice.tran-ba-huy@lrb.aphp.fr
authors.forename: Patrice Tran Ba
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Huy
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D006801:Humans; D004856:Postural Balance; D012678:Sensation Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy