The risk of slipping and falling as a pedestrian during wintertime

Injuries from fall accident on icy or snowy surfaces are frequently occurring in Sweden, 25-30 000 per year. This means 2-3 injuries/1000 inhabitants needing medical care are expected to occur in Sweden every year. Similar proportions exist in other northerly located countries such as Finland, Norway, Japan, Canada and so on. Outdoor activities are essential for a healthy life, therefore the prevention of slip and fall accidents are important. An intervention study has been performed during Feb-April 2008 among healthy subjects in northern Sweden. The subjects have been divided into three groups: an Intervention Group (N=25), a Control Group (N=25) and a Comparison Group (N=17) with similar distribution of gender and age. The intervention group were equipped with one of three different types of anti-slip devices for their shoes: a Heel-device, a Foot-blade device or a Whole-foot device. Four questionnaires were used: -Background, health, and earlier experiences of falling accidents during the winter 2007/2008 -Daily diary of walked distance, walking conditions, occurrence of incidences or falls reported weekly -Detailed accident or fall report used after each occurrence. -Experiences of using anti-slip devices The results show that the subjects had experienced 24 falls during the winter before the trial period. 64 incidents/accidents took place, without any injuries needing medical care, during the 10 week trial period with more than 2600 reported days. The anti-slip users walked longer compared to non users. An incident or fall among subjects wearing anti-slip devices reduced the walking distance that day. Anti-slip devices prevents from falling. The risk of slipping and falling is reduced for anti-slip users. The users of anti-slip devices will continue to use them and they will also recommend others to do so. The risk of falling as pedestrian during wintertime can thus be reduced by using anti-slip devices.Godkänd; 2009; 20090814 (ysko