TY - JOUR PY - 2021// TI - Prevalence and associated factors of falls among older adults between urban and rural areas of Shantou City, China JO - International journal of environmental research and public health A1 - Chen, Xiaodong A1 - Lin, Zeting A1 - Gao, Ran A1 - Yang, Yijian A1 - Li, Liping SP - e7050 EP - e7050 VL - 18 IS - 13 N2 - BACKGROUND: To investigate the prevalence of falls and associated factors among older adults in urban and rural areas and to facilitate the design of fall prevention interventions.

METHODS: We used cluster random sampling to investigate the sociodemographic information, living habits, medical status, falls, home environment, and balance ability among 649 older adult participants. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression were used to examine the associated factors of falls.

RESULTS: The incidence of falls among older adults in Shantou City was 20.65%. Among them, the incidence was 27.27% in urban areas and 16.99% in rural areas. The rate of injury from falls among older adults was 14.48%, with18.61% in urban area and 12.20% in rural area. Multivariate analysis showed that the associated factors of falls among older adults in Shantou City included a high school or below education level (OR = 2.387, 95% CI: 1.305-4.366); non-farming as the previous occupation (OR = 2.574, 95% CI: 1.613-4.109); incontinence(OR = 2.881, 95% CI: 1.517-5.470); lack of fall prevention education (OR = 1.856, 95% CI: 1.041-3.311); and reduced balance ability (OR = 3.917, 95% CI: 2.532-6.058).

DISCUSSION: Older adults have a higher rate of falling in Shantou City, compared to the average rate in China. There are similarities and differences in the associated factors of falls among older adults between urban and rural areas of Shantou City. Targeted interventions for older adults in different regions may be more effective in reducing the risk of falls.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 1661-7827 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18137050 ID - ref1 ER -