Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia, Subang Jaya, Malaysia.
Division of Geriatric Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Front Public Health. 2020 Nov 16;8:506238. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.506238. eCollection 2020.
Falls are major issues affecting the older population with potentially serious complications, including fractures, head injury, institutionalization, fear of falling and depression. While risk factors for falls have been established across Western Europe and North America, geographical differences in falls risk have not been well researched. We aim to examine the clinical and physical risk factors for falls in a middle-income South East Asian country. Cross-sectional data from the Malaysian Elders Longitudinal Research (MELoR) study involving 1,362 community dwelling individuals aged 55 years and above was utilized. Information on sociodemographic and medical history was obtained by computer-assisted questionnaires completed during home visits and hospital-based detailed health checks. Univariate and multivariate analyses compared non-fallers and fallers in the previous 12 months. Urinary incontinence, hearing impairment, depression, arthritis and cognitive impairment were risk factors for falls in the past 12 months after adjustment for age in our study population. Awareness about the risk factors in a population helps the design of fall prevention strategies that target specific or multiple risk factors.
跌倒对老年人来说是一个主要问题，可能会导致严重的并发症，包括骨折、头部受伤、住院治疗、跌倒恐惧和抑郁。虽然在西欧和北美已经确定了跌倒的风险因素，但地理上的跌倒风险差异尚未得到充分研究。我们旨在研究一个中等收入的东南亚国家的临床和身体风险因素。本研究使用了来自马来西亚老年人纵向研究（MELoR）的横断面数据，涉及 1362 名 55 岁及以上的社区居住者。通过家庭访问和医院基础详细健康检查期间完成的计算机辅助问卷获得了社会人口统计学和病史信息。单变量和多变量分析比较了过去 12 个月内无跌倒和跌倒者。在我们的研究人群中，经过年龄调整后，尿失禁、听力障碍、抑郁、关节炎和认知障碍是过去 12 个月内跌倒的风险因素。了解人群中的风险因素有助于设计针对特定或多种风险因素的跌倒预防策略。
