Association between chronic diseases and falls among a sample of older people in Finland

Abstract

Background: Falls are a major problem for older people and recurrent fallers are especially prone to severe consequences due to falls. This study investigated the association between chronic conditions and falls. Methods: Responses from 872 older persons (age 65-98) to a health questionnaire were used in the analyses. Characteristics and disease prevalence between recurrent fallers, one-time fallers and non-fallers were compared. A hierarchical clustering method was applied to find combinations of chronic conditions that were associated with recent recurrent falling. Results: The results showed that recurrent fallers had a higher number of diseases (median 4, interquartile range, IQR = 2.0-5.0) compared to non-fallers (median 2, IQR = 1.0-3.0). Eight clusters were formed based on the data. The participants in the low chronic disease cluster were younger, more physically active, not frail, and had fewer geriatric conditions. Multiple chronic disease cluster participants were older, less physically active, overweight (body mass index, BMI > 30), at risk of malnutrition, and had more geriatric conditions. Significantly increased risk of recurrent falls relative to the low chronic cluster was found for respondents in the osteoporosis cluster and multiple chronic disease cluster (OR = 5.65, 95% confidence interval CI: 1.23-25.85, p = 0.026, and OR = 13.42, 95% CI: 2.47-72.96, p = 0.002, respectively). None of the clusters were associated with increased risk of one-time falling. Conclusions: The results implicate that the number of chronic diseases is related with risk of recurrent falling. Furthermore, the results implicate the potential of identifying certain combinations of chronic diseases that increase fall risk by analyzing health record data, although further studies are needed with a larger population sample.

Investigating Health Status Among Women Aged 50-70 years old in Hunan Province, China: A Cross-Sectional study

“…We found that more than half of women aged 50-70 years old had a history of chronic diseases, and the top three were hypertension, osteoarthropathy and coronary heart disease, which is lower than the rates reported in other studies in China [18,25], possibly to do with age, household type, BMI, average monthly household income, and self-reported physical health. Age was a widely risk factor for chronic diseases, people were more likely to suffer from chronic diseases as they got older [26], consistent with a study reported in Finland [27]. Women lived in urban showed a higher prevalence, on the one hand, they kept bad lifestyles and lacked exercises [28].…”

Urban-Rural Dimension of Falls and Associated Risk Factors among Community-Dwelling Older Adults in West Java, Indonesia

“…Older adults in urban areas with chronic illness have a 3 times higher risk to fall than who did not have chronic illness. Chronic illness has significant impact in deteriorating physical function that increases the risk of falls [46][47][48].…”

Rheumatic diseases and associated factors in older adults: a Brazilian population-based study

“…The vertebral column is the longitudinal axis of the body responsible for guaranteeing the upright position against the action of gravity and enables walking. In the case of patients with rheumatic diseases, their functions are altered due to the involvement of the joints and adjacent structures, which will inevitably cause chronic pain, progressive movement limitation and disability 1,27 .…”