Relationship between increased risk of falling and cognitive impairment in residents of an elderly home in the Colombo district

Abstract

Tendency to falling in older people, with and without cognitive impairment, living in an elderly home was assessed. A descriptive analytical study was carried out with 50 elderly people (25 males) aged between 60 - 85 years. Timed Up and Go (TUG) test and, Five Times Sit to Stand Test (FTSST) were used to determine risk of falling and functional lower extremity strength of each participant. The Folstein Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) were used to assess cognition.The cognitive scores were significantly lower in fallers compared to non-fallers (p=0.0001). Fallers demonstrated significantly poor lower extremity strength (p=0.0001). Older people with cognitive impairment demonstrated poor functional lower extremity strength than those without cognitive impairement (p=0.002). The difference in falling tendency between males and females was not statistically significant.