Risk of Fall Among Older Adults and Its Association with Cognitive Impairment in a Semi-Urban Community

Context: Fall in older people is a major public health concern. Two-third of the death due to fall are preventable. Risk assessment in older adults therefore is the first step to identify the high-risk group to plan need-based intervention.

Aims: The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of risk of fall among older adults and its association with cognitive impairment and sociodemographic characteristics.

Settings And Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the field practice areas of the department of community medicine in a teaching hospital in South Kerala, India.

Subjects And Methods: A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. Berg Balance Scale and Mini-Cog Test were used for measuring risk of fall and cognitive impairment.

Statistical Analysis Used: Descriptive statistics and logistic regression were used for the statistical analysis using SPSS.

Results: Among the older adults, 45% were at risk of fall, 42.4% in males and 57.6% in females. The risk of fall was found to be significantly associated with cognitive impairment, (odds ratio = 3.89, confidence interval at 95% = 2.06-7.31, < 0.001). Advanced age, female gender, and unemployed status were significantly associated with the risk of fall.

Conclusions: The risk of fall prevalence was high and significantly related to cognitive impairment, advanced age, female gender, and occupational status, with more than half of those currently not working having a higher risk. The study would recommend regular follow-up of risk groups for prevention a good percentage of fall and thereby the related injuries.