Relationship between subjective fall risk assessment and falls and fall-related fractures in frail elderly people

BMC Geriatrics

Research Article

Megumi Suzukawa¹  Tatsuro Ishizaki²  Takao Suzuki³  Hunkyung Kim⁴  Hiroyuki Shimada⁵  Kumiko Kobayashi⁶ 

[1] Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Rehabilitation, Course of Physical Therapy, University of Human Arts and Science, Saitama, Japan;Human Care Research Team, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo, Japan;National Institute for Longevity Sciences, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Obu, Japan;Research Team for Promoting Independence of the Elderly, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo, Japan;Section for Health Promotion, Department of Health and Medical Care, Center for Development of Advanced Medicine for Dementia, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Obu, Japan;Tsukui Corporation, Yokohama, Japan;

关键词: Fall Risk;    Care Staff;    Physical Performance Test;    Significant Odds Ratio;    Fall Risk Assessment;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2318-11-40

 received in 2010-08-09, accepted in 2011-08-12,  发布年份 2011

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundObjective measurements can be used to identify people with risks of falls, but many frail elderly adults cannot complete physical performance tests. The study examined the relationship between a subjective risk rating of specific tasks (SRRST) to screen for fall risks and falls and fall-related fractures in frail elderly people.MethodsThe SRRST was investigated in 5,062 individuals aged 65 years or older who were utilized day-care services. The SRRST comprised 7 dichotomous questions to screen for fall risks during movements and behaviours such as walking, transferring, and wandering. The history of falls and fall-related fractures during the previous year was reported by participants or determined from an interview with the participant's family and care staff.ResultsAll SRRST items showed significant differences between the participants with and without falls and fall-related fractures. In multiple logistic regression analysis adjusted for age, sex, diseases, and behavioural variables, the SRRST score was independently associated with history of falls and fractures. Odds ratios for those in the high-risk SRRST group (≥ 5 points) compared with the no risk SRRST group (0 point) were 6.15 (p < 0.01) for a single fall, 15.04 (p < 0.01) for recurrent falls, and 5.05 (p < 0.01) for fall-related fractures. The results remained essentially unchanged in subgroup analysis accounting for locomotion status.ConclusionThese results suggest that subjective ratings by care staff can be utilized to determine the risks of falls and fall-related fractures in the frail elderly, however, these preliminary results require confirmation in further prospective research.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Shimada et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2011