Factors associated with falls during voluntary self-isolation among community-dwelling older people: a longitudinal study

Abstract

[Purpose] We aimed to explore the factors that predict falls in community-dwelling older people over 6 months during their voluntary self-isolation for the coronavirus disease (SARS-CoV-2). [Participants and Methods] In this longitudinal study, we surveyed older people aged ≥65 years living in Takasaki City, Gunma Prefecture, using a questionnaire. We investigated the relationship between the frailty screening index and fall rate. [Results] A total of 588 older adults (response rate, 35.7%) filled and returned the questionnaire during the study period. Of these, 391 participants who had not applied for long-term care insurance and had completed the data on the response items were included in the study. Based on their responses in the survey questionnaire, 35 (8.95%) participants were grouped into the fall group and 356 into the non-fall group. Subsequently, the “no” response to “Can you recall what happened 5 minutes ago?” and “yes” response to “Have you felt tired for no reason (in the past 2 weeks)?” were identified as the significant factors associated with falls. [Conclusion] It is important to pay attention to the subjective evaluation of patients’ cognitive decline and fatigue to prevent falls owing to the implementation of SARS-CoV-2 countermeasures.

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the dynamic of patients with oral and maxillofacial trauma: interrupted time-series analysis

“…While the declaration of a state of emergency in Japan is believed to have effectively prevented people from going out to high-risk destinations during the pandemic, prolonged declaration of a state of emergency led people to return to their pre-pandemic lifestyle 22 . This dynamic change may be due to sports trauma, but the behavioral restrictions associated with the pandemic may also have contributed to increased frailty and locomotive syndrome in the elderly, leading to an increase in falls 23 . Thus, the declaration of emergency may not have been as coercive as a lockdown, potentially explaining the absence of an increase in violence-related nasal bone fractures.…”