Breast cancer survivors are at high risk for falls and broken bones due to the combined effects of chemotherapy and endocrine therapy.
Breast cancer survivors are at high risk for falls and broken bones due to the combined effects of chemotherapy and endocrine therapy.
Researchers in United States asked post-menopausal breast cancer survivors whether they had fallen in the past year and then tracked their falls over a six-month study period. Using a comprehensive set of objective measures of fall risk and by exploring mediators of the treatment-falls relationship, they found evidence that women who have survived breast cancer may fall more often than their peers.
The study looked at 59 post-menopausal breast cancer survivors, and found that 58 percent of them had experienced a fall in the year before the start of the study and 47 percent had a fall during the six months study period.
Those rates are much higher than the 25 percent to 30 percent annual fall rate reported for community-dwelling adults over 65 years old. Researchers measured a comprehensive set of neuromuscular and balance characteristics known to be associated with falls in the study participants. They found that only balance discriminated breast cancer survivors who fell from those who did not. The study findings also suggest that the balance problems may have been related to changes in the vestibular system that was associated with chemotherapy treatment.
Falls in breast cancer survivors are understudied and deserve more attention, particularly in the light of the increase in fractures after breast cancer treatment and the relationship of falls to fractures.
The above findings add to growing evidence that fall risk is increased in breast cancer survivors and that vestibular function may underpin associations between breast cancer treatment and falls.
Researchers in United States asked post-menopausal breast cancer survivors whether they had fallen in the past year and then tracked their falls over a six-month study period. Using a comprehensive set of objective measures of fall risk and by exploring mediators of the treatment-falls relationship, they found evidence that women who have survived breast cancer may fall more often than their peers.
The study looked at 59 post-menopausal breast cancer survivors, and found that 58 percent of them had experienced a fall in the year before the start of the study and 47 percent had a fall during the six months study period.
Those rates are much higher than the 25 percent to 30 percent annual fall rate reported for community-dwelling adults over 65 years old. Researchers measured a comprehensive set of neuromuscular and balance characteristics known to be associated with falls in the study participants. They found that only balance discriminated breast cancer survivors who fell from those who did not. The study findings also suggest that the balance problems may have been related to changes in the vestibular system that was associated with chemotherapy treatment.
Falls in breast cancer survivors are understudied and deserve more attention, particularly in the light of the increase in fractures after breast cancer treatment and the relationship of falls to fractures.
The above findings add to growing evidence that fall risk is increased in breast cancer survivors and that vestibular function may underpin associations between breast cancer treatment and falls.
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