TY - JOUR
PY - 2020//
TI - Risk of fall among older adults and its association with cognitive impairment in a semi-urban community
JO - Indian journal of community medicine
A1 - Monachan, Dayana
A1 - Vargese, Saritha Susan
A1 - Johny, Vinny
A1 - Mathew, Elsheba
SP - 463
EP - 466
VL - 45
IS - 4
N2 - 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, P < 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. Language: en
LA - en
SN - 0970-0218
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/ijcm.IJCM_491_19
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