The results of a new study will hold no surprises for Las Vegas personal injury lawyers. The study was conducted by researchers at the Harvard-affiliated Institute for Aging Research of Hebrew SeniorLife in Boston. The researchers found that 52% of elderly persons who suffered a fall accident in the home, were either wearing slippers, going barefoot, or wearing socks with no shoes.

The researchers found that 18% of the participants were barefoot when they fell, while 27% were wearing slippers, and 7% were wearing socks with no shoes at the time of the fall. These persons were also more likely to suffer from serious injuries like fractures, broken bones, and torn ligaments, tendons and muscles as a result of the fall.

The researchers are concluding that wearing proper fitting shoes reduces an elderly person's risk of suffering a slip and fall accident. You don't have to be a Las Vegas slip and fall accident attorney to know that falls can be a major health hazard in the elderly. Older persons are at a higher risk of osteoporosis, a condition in which there is decreased bone mineral density. As a result, the bones become brittle and weak. Such bones are more likely to snap and break when the person suffers a fall. Besides, elderly persons with fractured bones may find that these bones take a longer time to heal.

Serious fractures, like hip fractures in the elderly, can lead to loss of movement and other debilitating conditions that can severely impact the senior citizen’s quality of life. In fact, senior citizens have a fatality rate of between 12% and 36% after they suffer a hip fracture. Treatment for hip fractures can include surgeries, and senior citizens may have a number of health complications that make surgery a risky option.

That's why it's so important to prevent slip and fall accidents among the elderly in the first place. Nursing homes, geriatric health facilities and care facilities must consider these new studies that show that people who wear shoes are at a reduced risk of falls.