The drop attack: a common geriatric symptom.

While the "drop attack" has been described in the British literature as a classic geriatric syndrome accounting for as many as one-quarter of all falls in their elderly population, it is rarely acknowledged in discussions of falls by physicians in the United States. Is the drop attack a distinct entity that has been overlooked and under-investigated in this country, or is it perhaps a symptom of a spectrum of diseases? This paper reviews the original descriptions of the drop attack for its characteristic features, and focuses on the epidemiology, etiology and clinical management of this common, but infrequently recognized, event.