Episodes of Falling Among Elderly People: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Social and Demographic Pre-disposing Characteristics

Overview

Journal Clinics (Sao Paulo)

Publisher Elsevier

Specialty General Medicine

Date 2010 Nov 5

PMID 21049218

Citations 23

Authors

F Bloch

M Thibaud

B Dugue

C Breque

A S Rigaud

G Kemoun

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Context: The multifactorial nature of falls among elderly people is well-known. Identifying the social-demographic characteristics of elderly people who fall would enable us to define the typical profile of the elderly who are at risk of falling.

Objective: We aimed to isolate studies in which the social-demographic risk factors for falls among the elderly have been evaluated and to carry out a meta-analysis by combining the results of all of these selected studies.

Method: We did a systematic literature review using the key words "accidental fall / numerical data" and "risk factors." Inclusion criteria entailed the selection of articles with the following characteristics: population of subjects aged 60 years or over, falls that took place in everyday life, and social-demographic risk factors for falls.

Results: 3,747 indexed articles published between 1981 and 2007 were identified, and 177 studies with available data were included, of which 129 had data on social-demographic risk factors for falls. Difficulties in activities of daily living (ADL) or in instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) double the risk of falling: The OR and 95% Cl were 2.26 (2.09, 2.45) for disturbance ADL and 2.10 (1.68, 2.64) for IADL. The OR and 95% Cl for Caucasians were 1.68 (0.98 - 2.88) and 0.64 (0.51 - 0.80) for Hispanics. In the subgroup of patients older than eighty, being married protected people from falling with an OR and 95% Cl =0.68 (0.53 - 0.87).

Conclusion: Defining factors that create a risk of falling and protect elderly people from falls using social-demographic characteristics lets us focus on an "at risk" population for which a specific program could be developed.

Citing Articles

Socioeconomic position across the life course and falls among middle- and older-aged adults: protocol for a systematic review.

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Fall Risk and Medication Use Near End of Life Among Adults With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

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Influence of falls, fall-related injuries, and fear of falling on social participation in people aging with long-term physical disability: a cross-sectional study.

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Bally E, Ye L, van Grieken A, Tan S, Mattace-Raso F, Procaccini E Front Public Health. 2023; 11:1180914.

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Prevalence and risk factors for falls in urban and rural older adults in Ekiti State, Nigeria.

Atoyebi O, Elegbede O, Babatunde O, Adewoye K, Durowade K, Parakoyi D Ghana Med J. 2022; 55(4):265-272.

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