Falls risk factor assessment is the first step in the development of appropriate intervention strategies for the prevention of falls. However, few multifactorial, validated falls risk assessments exist which are suitable for use in busy clinical settings. This project aimed to develop a reliable and valid falls risk assessment that was feasible for use in various clinical settings. The QuickScreen Clinical Falls Risk Assessment was developed and evaluated via four methods; a) the test-retest reliability of the measures was assessed with 30 community-dwelling older people, b) the concurrent validity of the measures was assessed by comparison with performance in the Physiological Profile Assessment, c) the predictive validity of the measures was assessed by comparison of performance with prospective falls in two studies involving large samples of community dwelling older people and d) the feasibility of the assessment was evaluated with 40 clinicians who trialled the assessment with their patients. The QuickScreen clinical falls risk assessment consists of eight measures, including previous falls, total medications, psychoactive medications, visual acuity, touch sensation, the sit to stand test, the near tandem stand test and the alternate step test. The test-retest reliability of the assessment measures was acceptable (intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from 0.56 to 0.89) and the assessment measures discriminated between multiple fallers and non-multiple fallers with relative risk values ranging from 1.4 to 2.5. The clinicians that trialled the assessment reported that it was quick and easy to administer and that it assisted in the management of their elderly patients. These results show that the QuickScreen Clinical Falls Risk Assessment has proven validity, test-retest reliability and is practical for use in a variety of clinical settings.

Falls risk factor assessment is the first step in the development of appropriate intervention strategies for the prevention of falls. However, few multifactorial, validated falls risk assessments exist which are suitable for use in busy clinical settings. This project aimed to develop a reliable and valid falls risk assessment that was feasible for use in various clinical settings. The QuickScreen Clinical Falls Risk Assessment was developed and evaluated via four methods; a) the test-retest reliability of the measures was assessed with 30 community-dwelling older people, b) the concurrent validity of the measures was assessed by comparison with performance in the Physiological Profile Assessment, c) the predictive validity of the measures was assessed by comparison of performance with prospective falls in two studies involving large samples of community dwelling older people and d) the feasibility of the assessment was evaluated with 40 clinicians who trialled the assessment with their patients. The QuickScreen clinical falls risk assessment consists of eight measures, including previous falls, total medications, psychoactive medications, visual acuity, touch sensation, the sit to stand test, the near tandem stand test and the alternate step test. The test-retest reliability of the assessment measures was acceptable (intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from 0.56 to 0.89) and the assessment measures discriminated between multiple fallers and non-multiple fallers with relative risk values ranging from 1.4 to 2.5. The clinicians that trialled the assessment reported that it was quick and easy to administer and that it assisted in the management of their elderly patients. These results show that the QuickScreen Clinical Falls Risk Assessment has proven validity, test-retest reliability and is practical for use in a variety of clinical settings.

Falls risk factor assessment is the first step in the development of appropriate intervention strategies for the prevention of falls. However, few multifactorial, validated falls risk assessments exist which are suitable for use in busy clinical settings. This project aimed to develop a reliable and valid falls risk assessment that was feasible for use in various clinical settings. The QuickScreen Clinical Falls Risk Assessment was developed and evaluated via four methods; a) the test-retest reliability of the measures was assessed with 30 community-dwelling older people, b) the concurrent validity of the measures was assessed by comparison with performance in the Physiological Profile Assessment, c) the predictive validity of the measures was assessed by comparison of performance with prospective falls in two studies involving large samples of community dwelling older people and d) the feasibility of the assessment was evaluated with 40 clinicians who trialled the assessment with their patients. The QuickScreen clinical falls risk assessment consists of eight measures, including previous falls, total medications, psychoactive medications, visual acuity, touch sensation, the sit to stand test, the near tandem stand test and the alternate step test. The test-retest reliability of the assessment measures was acceptable (intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from 0.56 to 0.89) and the assessment measures discriminated between multiple fallers and non-multiple fallers with relative risk values ranging from 1.4 to 2.5. The clinicians that trialled the assessment reported that it was quick and easy to administer and that it assisted in the management of their elderly patients. These results show that the QuickScreen Clinical Falls Risk Assessment has proven validity, test-retest reliability and is practical for use in a variety of clinical settings.

Falls risk factor assessment is the first step in the development of appropriate intervention strategies for the prevention of falls. However, few multifactorial, validated falls risk assessments exist which are suitable for use in busy clinical settings. This project aimed to develop a reliable and valid falls risk assessment that was feasible for use in various clinical settings. The QuickScreen Clinical Falls Risk Assessment was developed and evaluated via four methods; a) the test-retest reliability of the measures was assessed with 30 community-dwelling older people, b) the concurrent validity of the measures was assessed by comparison with performance in the Physiological Profile Assessment, c) the predictive validity of the measures was assessed by comparison of performance with prospective falls in two studies involving large samples of community dwelling older people and d) the feasibility of the assessment was evaluated with 40 clinicians who trialled the assessment with their patients. The QuickScreen clinical falls risk assessment consists of eight measures, including previous falls, total medications, psychoactive medications, visual acuity, touch sensation, the sit to stand test, the near tandem stand test and the alternate step test. The test-retest reliability of the assessment measures was acceptable (intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from 0.56 to 0.89) and the assessment measures discriminated between multiple fallers and non-multiple fallers with relative risk values ranging from 1.4 to 2.5. The clinicians that trialled the assessment reported that it was quick and easy to administer and that it assisted in the management of their elderly patients. These results show that the QuickScreen Clinical Falls Risk Assessment has proven validity, test-retest reliability and is practical for use in a variety of clinical settings.

Geothermal resources are characterized by a very low electrical resistivity of the reservoir formations. The application of electrical methods in the reconnaissance type exploration for such resources is discussed. It is concluded that the magneto-telluric method is very well suited for this purpose. In 1971 and 1972 a reconnaissance type magneto-telluric field program was carried out in southern and eastern Oregon by the Geophysics Group at Oregon State University. In order to reduce the field effort, the magnetic data were obtained from a fixed base station at Corvallis. Only the electrical field components were measured at the various field stations. Ten stations were occupied in the Klamath Falls area, six in central and eastern Oregon and one in the Willamette Valley. Impedance data were obtained in the .025 to 0.05 Hz frequency band of the Pc 3 micropulsations. The data were analysed on the basis of an individual event method. Only magnetic-telluric events with a good correlation are taken into account. The resulting apparent resistivities display some correlation with known geothermal manifestations in the region. The lowest resistivities of the order of 10 ohm-meters were recorded in the Klamath Falls region and at a station near Vale in eastern Oregon. As common in magneto-telluric work, the data display a considerable variability, irregular scattering and anisotropy. The results are encouraging in that they appear to indicate that the magneto-telluric method is a useful reconnaissance method in the regional exploration for geothermal resources. / Graduation date: 1974

In Sweden, injuries due to falls are the most common cause of injury-related hospitalization and injury-related death amongst elderly. Also, during the 20th century, increasing trends in fall-related injuries have been observed in many high-income countries. Whilst fall-related injury trends have been reported from national studies in other comparable countries, no studies from Sweden using national data have been published, despite this issue sometimes being pointed out as one of the most important emerging societal risks both in Sweden and elsewhere. With large individual and societal costs, as well as prognosticated continued increases in high-income countries, the aim of this thesis is to update the knowledge on the trends of fall-related injuries amongst elderly in Sweden and to determine whether the issue is still to be considered an emerging risk. National injury morbidity and mortality data from Sweden can show that with regards to all hospitalized fall-related injuries as well as hip fractures, the risk is decreasing. However, diverging trends are observed in age- and sex-specific groups, with younger elderly now having considerably lower rates of fall-related injuries, whilst older elderly are increasingly hospitalized due to minor fall-related injuries. Also, amongst older elderly, increasing hip fracture mortality trends are observed. With regards to sex-specific groups, although fall-related injuries in general are more common amongst women, the injury trends for women are generally decreasing at a quicker rate than for men. Also, contradictorily to almost all fall-related injury morbidity, hip fracture mortality risk is higher amongst men. This thesis can show a change in trend in fall-related injuries amongst elderly in Sweden since the turn of the century, apart from amongst older elderly and with regards to hip fracture mortality. The implications on prognoses needs to be studied further as do the underlying causes behind this shift in trend. / BAKSIDESTEXT Injuries due to falls are the most common cause of injury-related hospitalization and injury-related death amongst elderly. During the 20th century, although increasing trends in fall-related injuries have been reported from other high-income countries, no studies from Sweden using national data have been published, despite this issue being pointed out as one of the most important emerging societal risks in Sweden. National injury morbidity and mortality data from Sweden can show that in terms of hospitalized fall-related injuries as well as hip fractures, the risk is decreasing. However, diverging trends are observed in age- and sex-specific groups, with younger elderly now having considerably lower rates of fall-related injuries, whilst older elderly are increasingly hospitalized due to minor fall-related injuries. Also, amongst older elderly, increasing hip fracture mortality trends are observed. This thesis can show a change in trend in fall-related injuries amongst elderly in Sweden since the turn of the century, apart from amongst older elderly and with regards to hip fracture mortality. The implications on future prognoses needs to be studied further as do the underlying causes behind this shift in trend.

Background. Tripping is a common factor in falls and a typical safety strategy to avoid tripping on steps or stairs is to increase foot clearance over the step edge. In the present study we asked whether the perceived height of a step could be increased using a visual illusion and whether this would lead to the adoption of a safer stepping strategy, in terms of greater foot clearance over the step edge. The study also addressed the controversial question of whether motor actions are dissociated from visual perception. Methodology/Principal Findings. 21 young, healthy subjects perceived the step to be higher in a configuration of the horizontal-vertical illusion compared to a reverse configuration (p = 0.01). During a simple stepping task, maximum toe elevation changed by an amount corresponding to the size of the visual illusion (p<0.001). Linear regression analyses showed highly significant associations between perceived step height and maximum toe elevation for all conditions. Conclusions/Significance. The perceived height of a step can be manipulated using a simple visual illusion, leading to the adoption of a safer stepping strategy in terms of greater foot clearance over a step edge. In addition, the strong link found between perception of a visual illusion and visuomotor action provides additional support to the view that the original, controversial proposal by Goodale and Milner (1992) of two separate and distinct visual streams for perception and visuomotor action should be re-evaluated. / College of Optometrists

Falls risk factor assessment is the first step in the development of appropriate intervention strategies for the prevention of falls. However, few multifactorial, validated falls risk assessments exist which are suitable for use in busy clinical settings. This project aimed to develop a reliable and valid falls risk assessment that was feasible for use in various clinical settings. The QuickScreen Clinical Falls Risk Assessment was developed and evaluated via four methods; a) the test-retest reliability of the measures was assessed with 30 community-dwelling older people, b) the concurrent validity of the measures was assessed by comparison with performance in the Physiological Profile Assessment, c) the predictive validity of the measures was assessed by comparison of performance with prospective falls in two studies involving large samples of community dwelling older people and d) the feasibility of the assessment was evaluated with 40 clinicians who trialled the assessment with their patients. The QuickScreen clinical falls risk assessment consists of eight measures, including previous falls, total medications, psychoactive medications, visual acuity, touch sensation, the sit to stand test, the near tandem stand test and the alternate step test. The test-retest reliability of the assessment measures was acceptable (intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from 0.56 to 0.89) and the assessment measures discriminated between multiple fallers and non-multiple fallers with relative risk values ranging from 1.4 to 2.5. The clinicians that trialled the assessment reported that it was quick and easy to administer and that it assisted in the management of their elderly patients. These results show that the QuickScreen Clinical Falls Risk Assessment has proven validity, test-retest reliability and is practical for use in a variety of clinical settings.

Falls risk factor assessment is the first step in the development of appropriate intervention strategies for the prevention of falls. However, few multifactorial, validated falls risk assessments exist which are suitable for use in busy clinical settings. This project aimed to develop a reliable and valid falls risk assessment that was feasible for use in various clinical settings. The QuickScreen Clinical Falls Risk Assessment was developed and evaluated via four methods; a) the test-retest reliability of the measures was assessed with 30 community-dwelling older people, b) the concurrent validity of the measures was assessed by comparison with performance in the Physiological Profile Assessment, c) the predictive validity of the measures was assessed by comparison of performance with prospective falls in two studies involving large samples of community dwelling older people and d) the feasibility of the assessment was evaluated with 40 clinicians who trialled the assessment with their patients. The QuickScreen clinical falls risk assessment consists of eight measures, including previous falls, total medications, psychoactive medications, visual acuity, touch sensation, the sit to stand test, the near tandem stand test and the alternate step test. The test-retest reliability of the assessment measures was acceptable (intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from 0.56 to 0.89) and the assessment measures discriminated between multiple fallers and non-multiple fallers with relative risk values ranging from 1.4 to 2.5. The clinicians that trialled the assessment reported that it was quick and easy to administer and that it assisted in the management of their elderly patients. These results show that the QuickScreen Clinical Falls Risk Assessment has proven validity, test-retest reliability and is practical for use in a variety of clinical settings.

Falls risk factor assessment is the first step in the development of appropriate intervention strategies for the prevention of falls. However, few multifactorial, validated falls risk assessments exist which are suitable for use in busy clinical settings. This project aimed to develop a reliable and valid falls risk assessment that was feasible for use in various clinical settings. The QuickScreen Clinical Falls Risk Assessment was developed and evaluated via four methods; a) the test-retest reliability of the measures was assessed with 30 community-dwelling older people, b) the concurrent validity of the measures was assessed by comparison with performance in the Physiological Profile Assessment, c) the predictive validity of the measures was assessed by comparison of performance with prospective falls in two studies involving large samples of community dwelling older people and d) the feasibility of the assessment was evaluated with 40 clinicians who trialled the assessment with their patients. The QuickScreen clinical falls risk assessment consists of eight measures, including previous falls, total medications, psychoactive medications, visual acuity, touch sensation, the sit to stand test, the near tandem stand test and the alternate step test. The test-retest reliability of the assessment measures was acceptable (intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from 0.56 to 0.89) and the assessment measures discriminated between multiple fallers and non-multiple fallers with relative risk values ranging from 1.4 to 2.5. The clinicians that trialled the assessment reported that it was quick and easy to administer and that it assisted in the management of their elderly patients. These results show that the QuickScreen Clinical Falls Risk Assessment has proven validity, test-retest reliability and is practical for use in a variety of clinical settings.