What Predicts Falls, and what are the Circumstances and Consequences of Falls in Community-Dwelling Older Adults Who Need Walking Aids or Home Help Service

Abstract

The objective was to analyze predictive variables for falls in older community-dwelling adults who needed walking aids or home help service, to describe the circumstances and consequences of falls and fall injuries, and to describe the activities preceding falls, n = 175, mean age 83 years. Falls were self-reported monthly in a fall calendar and were followed up by a telephone interview. A logistic regression analysis was performed to investigate predictive baseline variables for falls. Injuries were reported in 82 of the 185 fall events. Previous falls and a high level of education had a significant association with falls odds ratios 1.9 (95% CI 1.3–2.7), and 2.7 (95% CI 1.4–5.3). Activities preceding the falls were classified according to the International Classification of Functioning (ICF). Falls and fall injuries were most common while moving around within the home and rising from sitting to standing.

Understanding the Home Environment as a Factor in Mitigating Fall Risk among Community-Dwelling Frail Older People: A Systematic Review

“…1 shows the characteristics of the 14 studies. Seven (50%) were nonintervention [25][26][27][28][29][30][31] and seven (50%) were intervention studies [32][33][34][35][36][37][38]. Te 14 studies were conducted in various regions (four each in the US, Asia, and Europe), and the countries where both nonintervention and intervention Home environment safety assessment tool assessed living room (carpet and foor), furniture (bed, chair, and sofa), light (light is bright), bathroom (handrail and antislip mat), kitchen (location of frequently used objects), stairs (safety handrails and outline of the edge), and mobility (shoes and slippers).…”

“…Regarding environmental risk factors, in fve out of seven studies, the location in the home where most falls occurred was reported. An analysis of nonintervention studies showed that the location where the risk of home falls was emphasized was the bathroom/toilet [25,26,[28][29][30], bedroom [28][29][30], and living room [28][29][30].…”

“…Te data supporting this systematic review are from previously reported studies and datasets, which have been cited. Te processed data are available frome the reference section [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37].…”