@article{ref1,
title="Genetic factors and susceptibility to falls in older women",
journal="Journal of the American Geriatrics Society",
year="2006",
author="Pajala, S. and Era, P. and Koskenvuo, Karoliina and Kaprio, Jaakko A. and Viljanen, A. and Rantanen, Taina",
volume="54",
number="4",
pages="613-618",
abstract="OBJECTIVES: To determine whether genetic influences account for individual differences in susceptibility to falls in older women. DESIGN: Prospective twin cohort study. SETTING: Research laboratory and residential environment. PARTICIPANTS: Ninety-nine monozygotic (MZ) and 114 dizygotic (DZ) female twin pairs aged 63 to 76 from the Finnish Twin Cohort study. MEASUREMENTS: The participants recorded their falls on a calendar for an average+/-standard deviation of 344+/-41 days. Reported falls were verified via telephone interview, and circumstances, causes, and consequences of the fall were asked about. RESULTS: The total number of falls was 434, of which 188 were injurious; 91 participants had two or more falls. Casewise concordance was 0.61 (95% confidence interval (CI)=0.49-0.72) for MZ twins and 0.49 (95% CI=0.37-0.62) for DZ twins for at least one fall, 0.38 (95% CI=0.23-0.53) for MZ and 0.33 (95% CI=0.17-0.50) for DZ twins for at least one injurious fall, and 0.43 (95% CI=0.26-0.60) for MZ and 0.36 (95% CI=0.17-0.55) for DZ twins for recurrent falls. On average, the proportion of familial influences accounting for the individual differences in susceptibility to at least one fall was 30% and to recurrent falls was 40%; nongenetic familial and nonfamilial factors alone accounted for susceptibility to at least one injurious fall. CONCLUSION: In community-dwelling older women, familial factors underlie the risk of falling but not the risk of injurious falls.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0002-8614",
doi="10.1111/j.1532-5415.2006.00678.x",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-5415.2006.00678.x"
}