After age 60, practise balance and leg strength and improve bathroom and stair safety

English is a site editorial draft, not independently verified or professionally approved.

Cost: The source suggests tai chi or balance exercises two or three times weekly, for 30 minutes each time. Bathroom non-slip mats, grab bars and night lights cost tens to hundreds of yuan. Sustaining practice is the difficult part.
In plain language: Balance practice such as tai chi two or three times weekly is described as reducing the number of falls by about 23% and the number of people who fall by 15%. Home modifications such as non-slip surfaces and grab bars are described as reducing falls by around another fifth. The source says falls are the leading cause of injury death among people aged 65 and older in China, with over half occurring at home.
Findings reported by the source: A Cochrane review combined 108 trials and 23,407 participants. Exercise reduced the rate of falls by 23%, with a rate ratio (RaR) of 0.77 and 95% CI 0.71–0.83. The number of people falling decreased by 15% (RR 0.85). Home safety assessment and modification were described as reducing falls by about a fifth (RR 0.81, 95% CI 0.68–0.97). Tai chi was associated with a 29% lower fall risk (RR 0.71). In China's 2018 surveillance data, 55.97% of recorded falls among older people occurred at home.
Source author's evidence grade: A; not site verification or professional approval.
Notes: This entry concerns community-dwelling adults older than 60, rather than nursing-home residents. The studies above counted falls, not deaths. The source highlights the potential sequence from a fall to hip fracture and death. Poor vision can contribute to falls; see chapter 17, entry 9 for cataract surgery. For older adults pulled over while walking a dog, see chapter 17, entry 10. For bone strength, see this chapter's entry 39 on bone-density assessment.
Original source bibliography (titles retained as supplied): Sherrington C 等 (2019). Exercise for preventing falls in older people living in the community. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD012424.pub2 ; Gillespie LD 等 (2012). Interventions for preventing falls in older people living in the community. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD007146.pub3 ; Lu Z 等 (2021). Characteristics of Falls Among Older People — China, 2018. China CDC Weekly. https://doi.org/10.46234/ccdcw2021.013