Falls among the non-institutionalized elderly in northern Minas Gerais, Brazil: prevalence and associated factors

Abstract

Objective: To identify the prevalence of falls and associated factors in non-institutionalized elderly persons. Methods: A cross-sectional study featuring a population-based sample of non-institutionalized elderly persons in a city in the north of Minas Gerais was performed. Interviews were conducted in households by trained staff using validated instruments. We investigated the associations between falls and demographic, socioeconomic and health-related factors. After bivariate analysis, the variables associated with falls to a level of 20% were analyzed together using logistic regression, assuming at this stage a significance level of 5%. Results: The studied population was predominantly female, married and with a low educational level. The prevalence of falls was 28.4%. The factors that were associated with falls were: female gender (OR=1.67; 95% CI:1.13 to 2.47); negative self-evaluation of health (OR=1.49; 95% CI: 1.02 to 2.20); impaired functional mobility (Timed Up and Go test >20 seconds) (OR=1.66; 95CI: 1.02-2.74); the occurrence of hospitalization in the previous 12 months (OR=1.82; 95% CI: 1.17 to 2.84); and frailty measured by the Edmonton Frail Scale (OR=1.73; 95% CI: 1.14 to 2.64). Conclusions: The prevalence of falls was high for the population studied and was related to the individual health conditions of the elderly.

Falls of elderly people living in rural areas: prevalence and associated factors

“…The marital situation was not associated with the fall event, corroborating a study developed with 683 non-institutionalized older people (21) . In both investigations, the population living with a partner was predominant, being married, in a stable union or with a significant other.…”

“…Focchesatto, Rockett and Perry (28) studied 70 individuals aged 60 years or older residing in the rural area of Rio Grande do Sul, where systemic arterial hypertension, osteoporosis and dyslipidemia were the most reported diseases by the participants. Differently from this research, Carneiro et al (21) showed that some investigated diseases, although associated in a bivariate analysis, were not maintained in the final model. The presence of chronic diseases in aging is a public health problem with high prevalence and important consequences, corroborating the finding in a study that investigated the prevalence and distribution of multimorbidity in Brazilian older people, in which only 6.0% of the sample did not show chronic disease.…”

“…Carneiro et al (21) conducted a study with a sample of 683 non-institutionalized elderly people living in the municipality of Montes Claros, northern Minas Gerais, and observed a prevalence of falls of 28.4%. On the other hand, a survey corroborated a 36.4% prevalence of falling episodes in 12 months (22) .…”

“…However, regarding the higher prevalence of falls among women, there is still no definitive explanation about this fact; however, it is thought that lower quality and strength of muscle mass in women as well as the prevalence of chronic diseases may increase the likelihood of frailty in women (21) . It is important to point out that this study was developed in the rural area, however, frequently, its population is mostly male (26) , differing from the data of this research, in which there were more women than men.…”

Influence of oral health literacy on dissatisfaction with oral health among older people

“…Our findings showed that DOH was associated with low OHL after adjusting for other covariates, confirming previous evidence that subjective perceptions of oral health in older persons are a multifactorial issue. [5][6][7][8][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] Approximately 21% of participants in our study were dissatisfied with their oral health, similar to other national 30 TA B L E 1 Sample characteristics and associations with satisfaction with oral health among older people in Piracicaba, Brazil oral health showed positive features. 34 One hypothesis for these contradictory results between normative and subjective aspects in the elderly population can be associated with the social representations related to oral health that are constructed throughout their lives in which the deterioration of dental status is depicted as a natural phenomenon of ageing.…”