O IMPACTO MULTIFATORIAL DAS QUEDAS NA SAÚDE DO IDOSO: UMA REVISÃO INTEGRATIVA

INTRODUCTION: Falls in the elderly constitute a serious public health problem, being one of the main causes of injuries, disability, and mortality in this age group. Given this scenario, the main objective of this article was to analyze and describe the most prevalent risk factors associated with falls in elderly patients. METHODOLOGY: An integrative literature review of original and review articles, published from 2020 onwards in Portuguese and English, was conducted using the Scielo and PubMed search platforms. In total, 36 publications were selected and synthesized. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The results demonstrated that falls are a multifactorial event, resulting from the interaction of biological and physiological (such as sarcopenia, frailty, and comorbidities), pharmacological (mainly polypharmacy), and environmental risk factors (domestic and institutional hazards). The analysis revealed the need for a clinical and multidisciplinary approach to assessing the risk of falls. CONCLUSION: The identification and management of these multiple factors are essential for implementing effective preventive strategies, aiming to promote safe, autonomous aging with a higher quality of life.