Medical falls among older adults in Latin American cities

• Published in: Revista de salud pública (Bogotá, Colombia) Vol. 22; no. 5; pp. 527 - 6
• Main Authors: Reyes-Ortiz, Carlos A, Pacheco, Soraira, Slovacek, Cedar A, Jiang, Meng, Salinas-Fernandez, Ivania C, Ocampo-Chaparro, Jose M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Colombia Universidad Nacional de Colombia 01.09.2020; Instituto de Salud Publica, Facultad de Medicina - Universidad Nacional de Colombia
• Subjects: Accidental Falls; Activities of Daily Living; Adults; Aged; Aging; Cities; Cross-Sectional Studies; Falls; Health Policy & Services; Health services; Humans; Latin America - epidemiology; Medical treatment; Older people; Regression analysis; Risk analysis; Risk Factors; Risk reduction; Urinary incontinence; Latin America; epidemiology; servicios de salud (fuente: DeCS, BIREME); aged; health services (source: MeSH, NLM); Accidente por caídas; anciano; epidemiologia; Accidental falls
• ISSN: 0124-0064; 2539-3596
• DOI: 10.15446/rsap.v22n5.84883

To estimate the prevalence and risk factors for falls requiring medical attention, referred as medical falls, in community-dwelling persons aged >60 years. Methods A cross-sectional analysis was conducted using information from the Health, Well-Being, and Aging ("SABE") Study in Latin America and the Caribbean (7 cities), as well as from the SABE Bogota study (pooled sample of 8 cities n=12,487). Falls that occurred during a past 12-month period were considered and then noted if required medical treatment because of the fall. The weighted prevalence of medical falls across the eight surveys ranged from 6.0% to 11.3%. In weighted multivariate logistic regression analyses, potentially modifiable risk factors for medical falls include urinary incontinence (OR=1.51 95% CI 1.18-1.92), high depressive symptomatology (OR=1.53 95% CI 1.24-1.91), poor self-rated health (OR=1.35 95% CI 1.10-1.66) and activities of daily living limitations (OR=1.48 95% CI 1.16-1.87). Based on our results, preventive measures targeting these risk factors may help to decrease the risk for medical falls among older adults in Latin America.