Fall risks and the related factors for the homebound older people with dementia: Evidence from East China.

PURPOSE: Falls are a major public health problem, especially for older people. This research aimed to provide a direct illustration of fall risks among the homebound older people with dementia in China, and to identify the risk factors associated with it.

METHODS

In 2020, a questionnaire-based field survey was used to assess 1,042 people aged over 60 years in Ningbo, Eastern China. The Morse Fall Risk Scale's result was employed as the dependent variable, while the basic health problems, living environment difficulties, social support problems, and behavioral awareness issues were utilized as the independent variables; subsequently, chi-squared tests and four multivariate ordinarily ordered logistic regression models were performed.

RESULTS

Overall, nine hundred and thirty-one older people with dementia were included in this study (the effective rate was 89.34%), with the majority of them having severe dementia (27.9%). Furthermore, 16.2% had fallen in the past 3 months, and 16.8% were at a high risk of falling. The risk factors for the older people's cognitive function included 80-90 years old, vascular dementia, marital status, and history of falls (P < 0.05); the kinds of chronic diseases, the activities of daily living, living environment, caregiver burden, caregiver knowledge, the Cohen Mansfield Agitation Inventory results, and the Clinical Dementia Rating were the protective factors for the risk of falls in them (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

The risk of falling of the Chinese homebound older people with dementia was high. Their caregivers, such as relatives, need to pay attention to these risk factors and perform appropriate measures to prevent falls.