 |
| Research article summary (published 30 Oct 2002): |
Prevalence and risk factors for falls in an older community-dwelling population.
Full Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Falls are responsible for considerable morbidity, immobility, and mortality among elderly people. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of falls and related intrinsic and extrinsic risk factors in a community-dwelling older population.
METHODS:
An observational study was performed on all patients (N = 5570) admitted from 1997 to 2001 to home care programs in 19 home health agencies that participated in the National Silver Network project in Italy. Patient evaluation was performed through the Minimum Data Set-Home Care (MDS-HC) instrument.
RESULTS:
A 35.9% falls prevalence was found within 90 days of the patient assessment through the MDS-HC instrument. After adjusting for all potential confounding factors, the logistic regression showed a high increase in risk of falling for those patients who wandered (odds ratio [OR] 2.38; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.81-3.12) or suffered with gait problems (OR 2.13; 95% CI 1.81-2.51). Patients affected by depression were more likely to fall (OR 1.53; 95% CI 1.36-1.73). Those who lived in an unsafe place with environmental hazards had an increase in the risk of falling (OR 1.51; 95% CI 1.34-1.69). The associations of main risk factors for falls were also evaluated.
CONCLUSIONS:
Rate of falls among frail elderly people living in the community is very high and frequently correlates with potentially reversible factors. To identify those with higher falling risk, home care staff and general practitioners could use the MDS-HC assessment tool.
Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills
Author information
Author/s: Cesari, Matteo (M); Landi, Francesco (F); Torre, Sergio (S); Onder, Graziano (G); Lattanzio, Fabrizia (F); Bernabei, Roberto (R);
Affiliation: Department of Gerontology, Geriatrics, and Physiatric Sciences, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy. cesari@rm.unicatt.it
Journal and publication information
Publication Type: Journal Article
Journal: The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences (J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci), published in United States. (Language: eng)
Reference: 2002-Nov; vol 57 (issue 11) : pp M722-6
Dates: Created 2002/10/29; Completed 2002/12/03; Revised 2004/11/17;
PMID: 12403800, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)
Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.
External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):
Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.
This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.
MeSH headings (categories)
This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.
|
Related articles
This article has not been indexed for related articles as yet, however you can still use the live related article search links below.
See a large map of 100+ related articles.