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Assessment of risk factors associated with falls among the elderly in a municipality in the state of Paraíba, Brazil. A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Falls among the elderly are one of the main public health problems that have direct consequences for their health. They reduce these individuals’ autonomy and functional independence. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the risk factors associated with falls among elde...

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Autores principales: Rodrigues, Alba Rejane Gomes de Moura, Assef, José Cesar, de Lima, Carlos Bezerra
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Associação Paulista de Medicina - APM 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9745815/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31939568
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1516-3180.2018.0198120619
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author Rodrigues, Alba Rejane Gomes de Moura
Assef, José Cesar
de Lima, Carlos Bezerra
author_facet Rodrigues, Alba Rejane Gomes de Moura
Assef, José Cesar
de Lima, Carlos Bezerra
author_sort Rodrigues, Alba Rejane Gomes de Moura
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Falls among the elderly are one of the main public health problems that have direct consequences for their health. They reduce these individuals’ autonomy and functional independence. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the risk factors associated with falls among elderly people enrolled within primary healthcare. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional study conducted at primary healthcare units in the municipality of Patos, state of Paraíba, Brazil. METHODS: The Fall Risk Score and Timed Up and Go (TUG) test were used for evaluating the risk of falling among 316 elderly individuals. The independent variables used were sociodemographic and health conditions, while the dependent variable was the frequency of falls on the same level, over the course of previous years. The descriptive statistical tests used were the chi-square and Mann-Whitney tests. RESULTS: Occurrence of falls was reported by 211 of the 316 participants, representing a prevalence of 66.8% with confidence interval 61.6-72.0. The logistic regression results showed, after adjusting for all variables included in the model, that only the variables of vestibular disorders, self-assessed health status and dizziness/vertigo (trend) were significant (P ≤ 0.05). Most of the elderly participants had two or more associated pathological conditions. The participants were predominantly female (68.4%). CONCLUSIONS: Higher occurrence of falls was observed among female elderly individuals who suffered recurrent falls, had had low levels of schooling, presented comorbidities, had comorbidities and made use of drugs. These conditions predisposed these individuals to greater vulnerability to the risk of falls.
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spelling pubmed-97458152022-12-13 Assessment of risk factors associated with falls among the elderly in a municipality in the state of Paraíba, Brazil. A cross-sectional study Rodrigues, Alba Rejane Gomes de Moura Assef, José Cesar de Lima, Carlos Bezerra Sao Paulo Med J Original Article BACKGROUND: Falls among the elderly are one of the main public health problems that have direct consequences for their health. They reduce these individuals’ autonomy and functional independence. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the risk factors associated with falls among elderly people enrolled within primary healthcare. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional study conducted at primary healthcare units in the municipality of Patos, state of Paraíba, Brazil. METHODS: The Fall Risk Score and Timed Up and Go (TUG) test were used for evaluating the risk of falling among 316 elderly individuals. The independent variables used were sociodemographic and health conditions, while the dependent variable was the frequency of falls on the same level, over the course of previous years. The descriptive statistical tests used were the chi-square and Mann-Whitney tests. RESULTS: Occurrence of falls was reported by 211 of the 316 participants, representing a prevalence of 66.8% with confidence interval 61.6-72.0. The logistic regression results showed, after adjusting for all variables included in the model, that only the variables of vestibular disorders, self-assessed health status and dizziness/vertigo (trend) were significant (P ≤ 0.05). Most of the elderly participants had two or more associated pathological conditions. The participants were predominantly female (68.4%). CONCLUSIONS: Higher occurrence of falls was observed among female elderly individuals who suffered recurrent falls, had had low levels of schooling, presented comorbidities, had comorbidities and made use of drugs. These conditions predisposed these individuals to greater vulnerability to the risk of falls. Associação Paulista de Medicina - APM 2020-01-13 /pmc/articles/PMC9745815/ /pubmed/31939568 http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1516-3180.2018.0198120619 Text en © 2022 by Associação Paulista de Medicina https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons license.
spellingShingle Original Article
Rodrigues, Alba Rejane Gomes de Moura
Assef, José Cesar
de Lima, Carlos Bezerra
Assessment of risk factors associated with falls among the elderly in a municipality in the state of Paraíba, Brazil. A cross-sectional study
title Assessment of risk factors associated with falls among the elderly in a municipality in the state of Paraíba, Brazil. A cross-sectional study
title_full Assessment of risk factors associated with falls among the elderly in a municipality in the state of Paraíba, Brazil. A cross-sectional study
title_fullStr Assessment of risk factors associated with falls among the elderly in a municipality in the state of Paraíba, Brazil. A cross-sectional study
title_full_unstemmed Assessment of risk factors associated with falls among the elderly in a municipality in the state of Paraíba, Brazil. A cross-sectional study
title_short Assessment of risk factors associated with falls among the elderly in a municipality in the state of Paraíba, Brazil. A cross-sectional study
title_sort assessment of risk factors associated with falls among the elderly in a municipality in the state of paraíba, brazil. a cross-sectional study
topic Original Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9745815/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31939568
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1516-3180.2018.0198120619
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