[Consequence and risk factors of falls-related injuries in community-dwelling elderly in Beijing].

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the incidence of falls during the past year,as well as the consequence of falls so as to explore the risk factors for fall-related injuries in the community-dwelling elderly in Beijing.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted in a community in Beijing. A total of 1512 persons aged 60 years and over were selected using stratified cluster sampling method. Information related to all kinds of falls was collected with a standardized structured questionnaire through face-to-face interview. Binary logistic regression was used to explore the related factors for consequence of any falls, especially falls-related injuries in the elderly.

RESULTS

272 older adults had one falling episode at the baseline study, with the incidence rate of fall and the frequency of falls as 18.0% (272/1512) and 379 times respectively. Among the 1512 interviewees, 8.7% (131) suffered from injuries as a result of falls. Out of the total 379 times of falls, 143 resulted in injuries. Most common injuries appeared to be soft tissue related (84 times, 58.7%) and epidermal abrasion (57 times, 39.9%), followed by fracture (20 times, 14.0%) and open wound (9 times, 6.3%). The most common injured areas were lower limbs (67 times, 46.9%), followed by upper limbs (39 times, 27.3%), head (27 times, 18.9%), face (19 times, 13.3%), hip (11 times,2.9%), waist/abdomen (10 times, 2.6%), chest (6 times, 1.6%) ,vertebral column (5 times, 1.3%) and neck (3 times, 0.8%). Data from logistic regression analysis showed that being female (OR = 2.09), with proper bench height (OR = 1.94), being alcoholic (OR = 3.10), being able to walk more than 400 meters (OR = 2.11), fear of falls (OR = 3.30) etc. were risk factors, while enough handrails provided in surrounding areas (OR = 0.41) showed as the protective factor for falls-related injuries in the elderly.

CONCLUSION

The incidence rates of falls and falls-related injuries among elderly community-dwellers in urban areas of Beijing were considered to be high. Falls and its related injuries were caused by varied factors, suggesting the intervention strategies should be targeted to the related factors as well as focusing on primary prevention.