Do footwear styles cause falls or increase falls risk in healthy older adults? A systematic review

Background and purpose: Falls in older adults is a major issue for health care organisations. Footwear is often reported as a contributing factor to falls in older adults; however, the reporting of footwear styles that are proposed to increase falls and falls risk is confusing. Moreover, these reports have been used to inform falls guidelines and recommendations by health practitioners. A systematic review was performed to identify and synthesize the available evidence examining whether there was support of a causal or correlational relationship between different styles of footwear and falls in older adults in real-life settings.Method: The databases included in the search were Ovid MEDLINE, PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science. The inclusion criteria were papers with falls outcomes, healthy adults that were 65 years or older. The footwear styles included slippers, Oxford/lace ups, high heels, boots and sandals. The exclusion criteria were laboratory studies and papers with primary focus on gait issues that ...