Background:The identification of the occurrence of falls is an important step for screening
and for rehabilitation processes for the elderly. The methods of monitoring these
events are susceptible to recording biases, and the choice of the most accurate
method remains challenging. Objectives:(i) To investigate the agreement between retrospective self-reporting and
prospective monitoring of methods of recording falls, and (ii) to compare the
retrospective self-reporting of falls and the prospective monitoring of falls and
recurrent falls over a 12-month period among older women at high risk of falls and
fractures. Method:A total of 118 community-dwelling older women with low bone density were
recruited. The incidence of falls was monitored prospectively in 116 older women
(2 losses) via monthly phone calls over the course of a year. At the end of this
monitoring period, the older women were asked about their recall of falls in the
same 12-month period. The agreement between the two methods was analyzed, and the
sensitivity and specificity of self-reported previous falls in relation to the
prospective monitoring were calculated. Results:There was moderate agreement between the prospective monitoring and the
retrospective self-reporting of falls in classifying fallers (Kappa=0.595) and
recurrent fallers (Kappa=0.589). The limits of agreement were 0.35±1.66 falls. The
self-reporting of prior falls had a 67.2% sensitivity and a 94.2% specificity in
classifying fallers among older women and a 50% sensitivity and a 98.9%
specificity in classifying recurrent fallers. Conclusion:Self-reporting of falls over a 12-month period underestimated 32.8% of falls and
50% of recurrent falls. The findings recommend caution if one is considering
replacing monthly monitoring with annual retrospective questioning.
Overactive bladder syndrome was prevalent among older women and the existence of these symptoms was linked to the presence of mild, moderate and/or severe anxiety symptoms.
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