Knee Osteoarthritis and the Risk of Medically Treated Injurious Falls Among Older Adults: A Community‐Based US Cohort Study

Abstract

Knee sROA was independently associated with an increased risk of injurious falls in older men, but not in older women. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Applying the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health framework to determine the predictors of falls and fractures in people with osteoarthritis or at high risk of developing osteoarthritis: data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative

“…In England, falls have been found to be the ninth highest cause of disability-adjusted life years and the leading cause of injury in 2013 [4]. There is growing evidence that people with osteoarthritis (OA) may be at a higher risk of falls, injurious falls and fall-related injuries including fractures [5][6][7][8][9]. Osteoarthritis is one of the most disabling musculoskeletal conditions among older people with profound impacts on their mobility and ability to work and participate in social roles [10].…”

“…Many of the physical impairments associated with OA are also known risk factors for falls such as reduced strength and balance [11,12]. However, previous studies examining the association between OA and falls have not always considered or conceptualised the pathways that link falls with demographic factors, impairments, activity limitations and participation restrictions [6,8,9,13,14]. This makes it challenging to draw conclusions about the ways in which a condition such as OA might contribute to a person's risk of falls and fractures, and to provide relevant clinical recommendations.…”

Analysis of the Associations between Arthritis and Fall Histories in Korean Adults

“…There may be confounders related to falls in arthritis patients that we did not consider in our study. Various variables may contribute to falls in arthritis patients, such as demographic variables (marital status), health status variables (use of walking aid, low back pain, joint pain, vision impairment, number of medications, number of comorbid conditions, bone mineral density, sarcopenia, disease activity, and laboratory findings), health-related behaviors (drinking), psychological variables (fear of falling and depression), and physical performance (functional score and muscle strength) [ 1 , 7 , 8 , 10 , 11 , 13 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 19 , 26 , 28 , 29 , 33 , 34 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 45 , 54 , 55 , 62 ]. Further studies that are based on additional confounding factors and covariates using prospective study designs are warranted.…”

Current Knee Osteoarthritis and Non-Surgically Related Falls Injuries Studies: What Prevails, What is Needed, and Why

“…Both knee osteoarthritis as well as falls injuries, which have an independently high incidence among older adults [5][6][7][8], as well as a collective prevalence, currently pose an enormous challenge to many aging individuals, worldwide, as well as tremendous challenges to health providers, plus immense hospital and societal costs. At the same time, what produces falls that can impact knee osteoarthritis outcomes negatively is relatively unknown.…”