Risk of falls in community-dwelling older adults aged 65 or over with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a systematic review

Abstract

Objective: Older persons with diabetes mellitus (DM) are particularly more likely to have fallen in the previous year than those without DM. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the risk of falls and type 2 DM in older adults who are 65 years of age or above. Design: A systematic review. Methods: PubMed and other two databases were searched up to August 2, 2018. Observational and cohort studies evaluating fall risk in people who are 65 years of age or above with DM were included. This review extracted the following information from each study selected: first author's surname, year of publication, country, average follow-up period, sex, age at enrollment, study population, measurement variables, relative risk, 95% confidence intervals and controlled variables. Results: This review involved nine cohort studies with 3,765 older adults with DM and 12,989 older adults without DM. Six studies compared with or without DM and two studies compared fallers with non-fallers with DM. Risk factors for falls included impaired cognitive function, diabetes-related complications (peripheral nerve dysfunction, visual impairment), and physical function (balance, gait velocity, muscle strength, and severity of physical activities). Conclusions: People who are 65 years of age or above with DM have increased risk of falling caused by impaired cognitive function, peripheral nerve dysfunction, visual impairment, and physical function in community-dwellers. For adults who are 65 years of age or older with DM, research fields and clinical settings should consider therapeutic approaches to improve these risk factors for falls.

Risco de ocorrência de quedas relacionado ao uso de medicamentos

“…Em vários estudos associam a ocorrência de hipoglicemia e quedas, sendo a hipoglicemia é um fator de risco três vezes maior para quedas, especialmente para pacientes acometidos por diabetes e idosos. Outra condição de risco é a hipotensão ortostática (Hwang, 2018;Khow & Visvanathan, 2017;Shah et al, 2018).…”

Fall prevention strategies in community-dwelling older adults aged 65 or over with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Previous review of this research project identified that the risk factors of falls were impaired cognitive function, peripheral nerve dysfunction, visual impairment, and physical dysfunction in community-dwelling persons who had 65 years of age or above with T2DM [5]. This study investigated therapeutic exercises as a fall prevention strategy to improve the risk of falls in community-dwelling older adults with T2DM.…”

“…In the previous review of this systematic review, we identified the relationship between the risk of falls and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in older adults who are 65 years of age or above. The results of the review reported that they have increased risk of falling caused by cognitive dysfunction, peripheral nerve dysfunction, visual impairment, and physical function level [5]. Chapman et al [6] investigated the first systematic review and meta-analyses of exercise in-terventions for the improvement of fall-related outcomes among older adults with DM, with the aim of quantifying the effectiveness of interventions, relative to control conditions and to assist in tailoring future interventions to meet the needs of the growing population of older adults with DM.…”

Effectiveness of whole body vibratory stimulation for fall prevention in super-aged women: a preliminary randomized trial

“…Physical disability acquired through falls is difficult to recover, and it is considered as a serious health issue because of the high risk for complications when compared with the younger population [5,6]. In addition, normal activities are limited by not only physical impairments, but also by fear of falling, and furthermore, there is a decrease in physical function, resulting in a high risk for falls [7].…”