Yaktrax - A new gait-stabilizing device

[Guest guest]

(NOTE: As I read this over I wondered if this would help those of us

with CMT ~ Gretchen)

New footwear reduces falls in the elderly population

08 Jul 2005 Medical News Today

A new gait-stabilizing device called the Yaktrax has shown to

reduce the risk of injurious falls during winter months in older

adults who are fall-prone, reports a study in the Journal of the

American Geriatrics Society.

Yaktrax is a plastic netting sized to conform to the bottom of

a boot or shoe. Participants in the study were asked to wear the

device outdoors over their normal winter footwear and kept a diary of

any falls.

A total of 43 outdoor falls were reported by participants in the

study group who wore their usual winter footwear, compared with just

19 falls in the group using the Yaktrax device. There were 10

minimally injurious falls in the usual winter footwear group but only

1 minimally injurious fall in the Yaktrax group.

According to the study, falling is the leading cause of accidental

death - the sixth leading cause of all deaths in older people. The

average estimated cost for fall-related hospitalizations is almost

$20,000. The Yaktrax costs less than $20 a pair.

Corresponding author Fergus Eoin McKiernan, MD of the Center for Bone

Diseases, Marshfield Clinic.

This study is published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics

Society.