Association between skeletal muscle mass index and falls in patients with functional impairment

Abstract

Objective This study aimed to assess the association between skeletal muscle mass index and falls in patients with functional impairment. Design This retrospective cohort study was implemented at a convalescent rehabilitation ward. Patients with no measurement of skeletal muscle mass index and bed-ridden patients were excluded from this study. Patients were dichotomized into the low skeletal muscle mass index group and the high skeletal muscle mass index group. The occurrence of fall was assessed according to skeletal muscle mass index groups. Results Out of the 327 included patients, 231 (71%) were assigned to the low skeletal muscle mass index group. In total, 66 patients (20%) experienced at least one fall, and a total of 102 falls occurred. The incidence of falls for the low skeletal muscle mass index group was not significantly greater than that for the high skeletal muscle mass index group (4.9 per 1000 patient-days vs. 4.5 per 1000 patient-days, P = 0.9). Low skeletal muscle mass index was not significantly associated with one or more incidents of falls (OR (95% CIs) = 0.6 (0.3–1.17)). Conclusion This study found that skeletal muscle mass index was not significantly associated with falls in patients undergoing convalescent rehabilitation.