Incidence and factors associated with falls in independent ambulatory individuals with spinal cord injury: a 6-month prospective study.

BACKGROUND

Sensorimotor impairments following spinal cord injury (SCI) affect mobility and subsequently increase the risk of falls to patients. However, most of the fall data for these patients were retrospectively gathered.

OBJECTIVES

This study prospectively assessed falls and intrinsic factors associated with falls in 89 independent ambulatory individuals with SCI over the course of 6 months. In addition, functional ability between participants who did and did not fall was compared.

METHODS

Participants were interviewed and assessed for their baseline data and functional ability using the Timed "Up & Go" Test and the Six-Minute Walk Test. Then they were interviewed by telephone to complete a self-report questionnaire once per week to gather fall data for 6 months. A stepwise multiple logistic regression was utilized to determine the effects of demographics and SCI characteristics on occurrence of falls. The functional data between participants who fell and those who did not fall were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test.

RESULTS

Thirty-five participants (39%) experienced at least 1 fall during 6 months (range=1-11). Two participants required medical attention due to patellar and sternum fractures after falling. Participants with an educational level of high school graduate or greater, an American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale C (AIS-C) classification, and a fear of falling (FOF) significantly increased their risk of falls approximately 4 times more than those who graduated primary education, had an AIS-D classification, and did not have FOF. Moreover, the functional abilities of participants who fell were significantly poorer than those who did not fall.

LIMITATIONS

The sample size was calculated based on the primary objective (incidence of falls), which may not be sufficient to clearly indicate factors associated with falls for the participants.

CONCLUSIONS

More than one third of the independent ambulatory participants with SCI experienced at least 1 fall during the 6-month period of the study. The findings suggest the importance of functional improvement on the reduction of fall risk in these individuals.