More Seniors Falling Victim to Escalator Injuries

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The new study does provide insight into the ways in which injuries take place on escalators among older adults, however.

The most frequent cause of escalator injury was a slip, trip or fall, which accounted for 85 percent of all injuries in the study, the researchers said.

"Most of the slip-trip-or-fall injuries happened while a person was standing on the escalator, not trying to step on or off or pass by another person," O'Neil said.

Stepping on or off the escalator only accounted for a small portion (14 percent) of slips, trips and falls. Injuries caused by walking up or down while riding an escalator were rare. Also, only 3 percent of the total injuries resulted from a garment, shoe, bag or purse becoming caught in the escalator, the study found.

The reasons that older adults slip, trip and fall on escalators are likely very similar to the causes of injuries in other situations, O'Neil said. "Factors that could contribute to a fall include poor equilibrium, decreased visual acuity, coordination problems, changes in muscle strength and balance, and lack of agility," he said.

According to Jessie VanSwearingen, associate professor of physical therapy at the University of Pittsburgh, vision problems are probably the most important cause of escalator falls.

"Older people are more reliant on vision for their balance than younger people are," she said.

Escalators are very disruptive to vision because both the escalator and the surrounding environment are moving, she added.

One way to prevent these accidents is to "stabilize your vision," VanSwearingen said, offering the following tips:

• Do not look down at the moving steps, which is disorienting.
• Find an object ahead of you and focus on it.
• Don't look side to side at distractions or displays.

"If you need a cane or walker to get around, then you should definitely use an elevator," O'Neil added.

More information

For more on preventing falls among older adults, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.