Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan.
Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan.
Geriatr Gerontol Int. 2024 Nov;24(11):1181-1188. doi: 10.1111/ggi.14995. Epub 2024 Oct 8.
Understanding the characteristics of falls among older adults is necessary to prevent them. These characteristics include questions such as when (month and time), where (places), who (age), what (injury), why (trigger), and how (direction) the falls occur. The objective of this study was to identify the characteristics of falls in individuals aged 65-74 years (young-old), 75-84 years (old-old), and ≥85 years (oldest-old).
We conducted an observational mail survey among community-dwelling older adults in Japan and collected detailed information on the incidence of falls over the past 3 years. The month, time, location, trigger, direction, and resulting trauma of each fall were analyzed and compared across the different age groups (young-old, old-old, and oldest-old).
A total of 1695 falls among 1074 community-dwelling older adults were analyzed in this study. Falls were frequent during May and October as well as during the winter season from December to February, especially between 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. These fall characteristics were consistent across all the age groups. There was a higher incidence of outdoor falls among relatively young older adults, which were typically caused by tripping or slipping. However, as one progresses with age, there is a higher incidence of falls indoors, typically due to loss of balance or leg entrapment. Approximately 60% of older fallers experience some form of injury due to falls, with fractures considered the most serious, occurring in ≈10% of all falls.
We clarified the characteristics of falls including the "when, where, who, what, why, and how" of the fall. A future challenge is to use this valuable information to develop effective fall prevention programs for older populations worldwide. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2024; 24: 1181-1188.
了解老年人跌倒的特征对于预防跌倒至关重要。这些特征包括跌倒的时间（月份和时间）、地点、人物（年龄）、原因（诱因）、方式（方向）等。本研究旨在确定 65-74 岁（年轻老年人）、75-84 岁（老年人）和≥85 岁（最老年人）个体跌倒的特征。
我们在日本进行了一项针对社区居住老年人的观察性邮件调查，收集了过去 3 年中跌倒的详细信息。分析比较了不同年龄组（年轻老年人、老年人和最老年人）中每个跌倒的月份、时间、地点、诱因、方向和导致的创伤。
本研究共分析了 1074 名社区居住老年人中的 1695 次跌倒。跌倒多发生在 5 月和 10 月以及 12 月至 2 月的冬季，尤其是上午 10:00 至 11:00。这些跌倒特征在所有年龄组中均一致。相对年轻的老年人更容易发生户外跌倒，通常是由于绊倒或滑倒引起的。然而，随着年龄的增长，室内跌倒的发生率更高，通常是由于失去平衡或腿部被卡住引起的。大约 60%的老年人跌倒后会受到某种程度的伤害，骨折是最严重的伤害，约占所有跌倒的 10%。
我们阐明了跌倒的特征，包括跌倒的“何时、何地、何人、何事、为何以及如何”。未来的挑战是利用这些有价值的信息为全球老年人群开发有效的跌倒预防计划。
