Risk factors for recurrent nonsyncopal falls. A prospective study

TLDR

Falls pose a major health threat to older adults. The study assessed risk factors for nonsyncopal falls by following 325 community‑dwelling older adults who had fallen in the prior year over one year. Multiple nonsyncopal falls were strongly predicted by difficulty standing, tandem walking, arthritis, Parkinson’s disease, prior falls or injuries, and white race, with the risk rising from 10 % to 69 % as the number of risk factors increased. Published in JAMA 1989;261:2663–2668.

Abstract

Falls are a major threat to the health of older persons. We evaluated potential risk factors for falls in 325 community-dwelling persons aged 60 years or older who had fallen during the previous year, then followed up weekly for 1 year to ascertain nonsyncopal falls and their consequences. Risk factors for having a single fall were few and relatively weak, but multiple falls were more predictable. In multivariate analyses, we found increased odds of two or more falls for persons who had difficulty standing up from a chair, difficulty performing a tandem walk, arthritis, Parkinson's disease, three or more falls during the previous year, and a fall with injury during the previous year, and for whites. The proportion of subjects with two or more falls per year increased from 0.10 for those with none or one of these risk factors to 0.69 for those with four or more risk factors. Among older persons with a history of a recent fall, the risk of multiple nonsyncopal falls can be predicted from a few simple questions and examinations. (<i>JAMA</i>. 1989;261:2663-2668)