A Simple Gait-Stabilizing Device Reduces Outdoor Falls and Nonserious Injurious Falls in Fall-Prone Older People During the Winter

Objectives: To determine whether Yaktrax Walker (YW), a nonmedical gait‐stabilizing device, prevents outdoor falls and injurious falls in fall‐prone older people during the winter. Design: Prospective, randomized, interventional trial. Setting: Community‐based, northern United States, winter, outdoors. Participants: Ambulatory, community‐dwelling, fall‐prone people aged 65 and older. Intervention: Participants were randomized to wear YW or their usual winter footwear (UWF) outdoors during the winter of 2003/2004. Measurements: The number of indoor and outdoor slips, falls, and injurious falls was recorded daily in a fall diary. Winter footwear satisfaction survey was completed after study completion. Results: One hundred nine subjects completed 10,724 diary days. Mean age was 74.2. There were 93 indoor slips, 13 indoor falls, 714 outdoor slips, and 62 outdoor falls. The tendency for both groups to slip/fall indoors was comparable. The relative risk (RR) of outdoor slip for YW was 0.50 (P