[Effect of COVID-19 Lockdown on the Incidence and Severity of Falls in Institutionalized Older People: A Longitudinal Study]

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, virus contention measures such as strict confinement were declared in nursing homes.

Objective: To assess the impact of confinement on the incidence of falls and their associated factors in institutionalized older persons during the first year of the pandemic compared to the previous year.

Methods: A multicenter, comparative study was conducted between the pre-pandemic year (March 2019 to February 2020) and the first year (March 2020 to February 2021) in five nursing homes in Catalonia (Spain). The number of falls, date, placement and consequences were recorded, as well as sociodemographic and health information. A descriptive, bivariate and multivariate analysis was performed, calculating odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals and statistical significance of p<0.05.

Results: The sample consisted of 80 individuals, with a mean age of 84.4 years, 83.7% being women. In the first year of the pandemic, the number of falls per person increased by 0.21% (32.0% in rooms). In multivariate analysis of the pre-pandemic period, the risk of sarcopenia (OR = 4.02; 95% CI [1.09-14.82], p = 0.036) was a risk factor for falls independently of age and hypertension. In the first year of pandemic no statistically significant associated factors were found.

Conclusions: In the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a 15.6% increase in falls and an 8.7% increase in the number of people who fell compared to the previous year. The falls' location changed from common areas to bedrooms and increased in severity, with a 10.1% increase in fractures. Older age, risk of sarcopenia and arterial hypertension were associated with falls during the pre-pandemic period.