Association between chronic diseases and falls among a sample of older people in Finland.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Falls are a major problem for older people and recurrent fallers are especially prone to severe consequences due to falls. This study investigated the association between chronic conditions and falls.

Methods

Responses from 872 older persons (age 65-98) to a health questionnaire were used in the analyses. Characteristics and disease prevalence between recurrent fallers, one-time fallers and non-fallers were compared. A hierarchical clustering method was applied to find combinations of chronic conditions that were associated with recent recurrent falling.

Results

The results showed that recurrent fallers had a higher number of diseases (median 4, interquartile range, IQR = 2.0-5.0) compared to non-fallers (median 2, IQR = 1.0-3.0). Eight clusters were formed

SUBMITTER: Immonen M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7318483 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature