Falls in young, middle-aged and older community dwelling adults: perceived cause, environmental factors and injury

TLDR

Falls have been extensively studied in older adults, but little is known about falls among middle‑aged and younger adults. This study aims to describe the perceived causes, environmental factors, and injuries associated with falls in 1,497 men and women aged 20–45, 46–65, and over 65 from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study on Aging. Participants completed a fall‑history questionnaire detailing circumstances of falls over the preceding two years. Fall reporting rose with age (18% young, 21% middle‑aged, 35% older) and was higher in women; ambulation was the most common cause, 70.5% sustained injuries—wrist/hand, knees, ankles in young; knees in middle‑aged; head and knees in older—highlighting significant age‑group differences in fall frequency, activities, causes, and injury patterns.

Abstract

Abstract Background Falls in older people have been characterized extensively in the literature, however little has been reported regarding falls in middle-aged and younger adults. The objective of this paper is to describe the perceived cause, environmental influences and resultant injuries of falls in 1497 young (20–45 years), middle-aged (46–65 years) and older (> 65 years) men and women from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study on Aging. Methods A descriptive study where participants completed a fall history questionnaire describing the circumstances surrounding falls in the previous two years. Results The reporting of falls increased with age from 18% in young, to 21% in middle-aged and 35% in older adults, with higher rates in women than men. Ambulation was cited as the cause of the fall most frequently in all gender and age groups. Our population reported a higher percentage of injuries (70.5%) than previous studies. The young group reported injuries most frequently to wrist/hand, knees and ankles; the middle-aged to their knees and the older group to their head and knees. Women reported a higher percentage of injuries in all age groups. Conclusion This is the first study to compare falls in young, middle and older aged men and women. Significant differences were found between the three age groups with respect to number of falls, activities engaged in prior to falling, perceived causes of the fall and where they fell.