Case Study 3

Are shoes always slippery when raining? From this issue, there are some factors of "slip" which appears in shoes, weather and flooring. Putting on wrong shoes is one of the causes of undesirable falls.

According to an article taken  from The Straits Times, “More than half of the patients at Changi General Hospital’s (CGH) falls clinic are there because they were using footwear with an insufficient grip, said the hospital spokesman." A lot of people will make the mistakes that shoe has to be fit. In fact, in between the longest toes and the tip of shoes should be have one thumb width of space. According to a senior podiatrist, the reason of the need of the space is to reduce the chance of injury when the footwear is hit against a hard surface.

The head of medicine and also a geriatrician showed that 80 percent of the numbers of NUH patients falling by accident were due to the inappropriately footwear type, size and insufficient grip. Shoes being too big and loose are another reason for increase in risk of falling, particularly the elderly. As you age, especially the elderly, you will be prone to more falls. Therefore, age is also another factor which causes more falls.