Department of Educational Sciences, Psychology, Communication, University of Studies of Bari "Aldo Moro", Via Crisanzio 42, 70122, Bari, Italy.
Aging Clin Exp Res. 2018 Aug;30(8):985-991. doi: 10.1007/s40520-017-0858-9. Epub 2017 Nov 27.
Home accidents are one of the major causes of death, particularly in older people, young children and women.
The first aim of this study was to explore the role of subjective memory complaints, cognitive functioning and risky behaviour as predictors of home injuries occurred in a year in a sample of healthy Italian older adults. The second aim was to investigate the role of risky behaviour as a mediator in the relationship between subjective and objective cognitive functioning and home injuries.
One hundred thirty-three community-dwelling older people from southern Italy were administered a battery of tests to evaluate cognitive functioning, subjective memory complaints, and risky behaviour during home activities. Risky behaviour was evaluated using the Domestic Behaviour Questionnaire, created specifically for this purpose. The number of home injuries was recorded for a year throughout monthly telephone interviews. A path analysis was performed to test the following model: cognitive functioning and subjective memory complaints directly influence risky behaviour and number of accidents over a year; risky behaviour mediates the impact of cognitive functioning and subjective memory on number of accidents over a year.
Path analysis confirmed the model tested except the role of risky behaviour as a mediator between cognitive functioning and home accidents.
Risky behaviour could represent a further risk factor in cognitively intact older adults with subjective memory complaints.
The assessment of both cognition and behaviour in elderly can make a valuable contribution in preventing home accidents in elderly.
家庭事故是导致死亡的主要原因之一，尤其是在老年人、幼儿和妇女中。
本研究的首要目的是探究主观记忆主诉、认知功能和危险行为作为预测健康意大利老年人一年内家中受伤的指标的作用。其次是探究危险行为在主观和客观认知功能与家中受伤之间的关系中是否具有中介作用。
133 名来自意大利南部的社区居住老年人接受了一系列测试，以评估认知功能、主观记忆主诉和在家活动中的危险行为。使用专门为此目的创建的家庭行为问卷评估危险行为。在为期一年的每月电话访谈中记录家中受伤的次数。进行路径分析以检验以下模型：认知功能和主观记忆主诉直接影响危险行为和一年内事故次数；危险行为在认知功能和主观记忆对一年内事故次数的影响中起中介作用。
路径分析除了危险行为在认知功能和家庭事故之间的中介作用外，证实了所测试的模型。
对于有主观记忆主诉但认知功能正常的老年人来说，危险行为可能是另一个风险因素。
对老年人的认知和行为进行评估可以为预防老年人家中事故做出有价值的贡献。
