Selected factors influencing the risk of falls in the elderly

Wróblewska Izabela, Wróblewska Zuzanna, Bujak-Rogala Elżbieta, Manulik Stanisław, Sobieszczańska Małgorzata. Selected factors influencing the risk of falls in the elderly. Journal of Education, Health and Sport. 2019;9(2):421-436. eISNN 2391-8306. DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2579451

http://ojs.ukw.edu.pl/index.php/johs/article/view/6635

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The journal has had 7 points in Ministry of Science and Higher Education parametric evaluation. Part b item 1223 (26/01/2017).

1223 Journal of Education, Health and Sport eissn 2391-8306 7

 

© The Authors 2019;

This article is published with open access at Licensee Open Journal Systems of Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz, Poland

Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author (s) and source are credited. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non commercial license Share alike.

(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) which permits unrestricted, non commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.

 

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper.

 

Received: 30.01.2019. Revised: 30.01.2019. Accepted: 28.02.2019.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Selected factors influencing the risk of falls in the elderly

 

 

Izabela Wróblewska^1,2

¹Department of Gerontology, Wrocław Medical University, Wroclaw, Poland

²Faculty of Natural Sciences and Technology, Karkonosze College, Jelenia Gora, Poland

E-mail: izabela.wroblewska@umed.wroc.pl ; ORCID: 0000-0002-1307-5701

 

Zuzanna Wróblewska³

³“Cape of Hope” Centre for Pediatric Oncology, Wroclaw, Poland

E-mail: zn.wroblewska@gmail.com ; ORCID: 0000-0002-6056-0099

 

Elżbieta Bujak-Rogala⁴

⁴Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Health Care Centre, Klodzko, Poland

E-mail: rogal@mp.pl ; ORCID: 0000-0002-1038-4330

 

Stanisław Manulik^5,*

⁵Department of Nervous System Diseases, Wroclaw Medical University, Wroclaw, Poland

E-mail: stanislaw.manulik@umed.wroc.pl ; ORCID ID: 0000-0003-4292-161X

 

Małgorzata Sobieszczańska⁶

⁶Department and Clinic of Geriatrics, Wroclaw Medical University, Poland

E-mail: malgorzata.sobieszczanska@umed.wroc.pl ; ORCID: 0000-0003-4374-9866

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Corresponding author:

Dr Stanisław Manulik, MSc, RN, PhD, MBA, Department of Nervous System Diseases, Faculty of Health Sciences, Wroclaw Medical University, Bartla 5, 51-618 Wroclaw, Poland;

Phone: +48 506 511 282; E-mail: stanislaw.manulik@umed.wroc.pl

 

Abstract

Introduction: Falls concern 1/3 of people aged >65 years and every second person aged >80, leading to seniors’ disability and dependence on other people’s care. The unmodifiable causes for falls are age, sex, marital status, and place of residence. The modifiable causes include involutional changes in all body systems, multimorbidity, polypharmacy, as well as living and environmental conditions.

Aim: To determine the risk factors of falls in the elderly.

Material and methods:  The study involved 220 hospitalized patients aged >65 years who had experienced a fall. An anonymous questionnaire was applied that referred to the medications taken, diagnosed diseases, factors predisposing to falls, and the frequency of falls. The Mini-Mental State Examination was performed to qualify the subjects, and Tinetti test to assess gait and balance.

Results: In the Tinetti scale, 48.2% of the subjects were characterized by a rise in the risk of fall 5-fold higher than average; the risk increase less frequently concerned people undertaking physical activity and those who were younger (65–70 years) (P<0.05). The Tinetti test analysis revealed a statistically significant relation (P˂0.05) between brain stroke, Parkinson’s disease, orthostatic hypotonia, gait disorders, and falls. The decrease in the number of falls was influenced neither by dizziness, declared by 70.4% of the patients (P=0.092), nor by the number of medications taken (P=0.072). It was influenced, however, by the usage of orthopedic equipment (P˂0.001).

Conclusion: The risk of falls in the elderly rises with age. Physical activity decreases the risk; it is increased, though, by gait and balance disorders, Parkinson’s disease, past brain stroke, and orthostatic hypotonia.

 

Keywords: elderly; falls; risk factors; quality of life