Alcohol as a risk factor for fall injury events among elderly persons living in the community.

OBJECTIVE

To determine if alcohol use is a risk factor for fall injury events among community-dwelling older persons.

DESIGN

Case-control study.

SETTING

South Miami Beach, Florida.

PARTICIPANTS

320 persons 65 or older who sought treatment at six area hospitals for injuries resulting from falls; 609 controls, matched for sex and age, selected randomly from Health Care Financing Administration (Medicare) files.

MAIN INDEPENDENT VARIABLES: Self-reported current alcohol use.

RESULTS

No association was found between fall injury events and average weekly alcohol use.

CONCLUSIONS

Further efforts at reducing injuries to older persons from falls should concentrate on other modifiable risk factors, including adequate treatment of underlying medical conditions, reducing inappropriate psychotropic medication use, and installing safety devices in the home.