The purpose of this study was to determine occurrence of falls in elderly women living in a religious community and to identify factors relevant to the occurrence of falls. Fall risk identification is essential to prevent falls in older people. This study is a part of an overall epidemiological study of the health habits and disease status among 475 religious sisters. The epidemiological Web of Causation Model served as the conceptual basis for this study with the sample purposefully selected because of the absence of some risk factors and the homogeneity among this population. The sub sample for this study consisted of 52 sisters who were 65 years or older and completed self-report health related questionnaires (SF36, HealthCalc Risk Assessment, Geriatric Depression Scale, and fall history) and participated in functional performance evaluation (Guralnik), hearing screening and cognitive screening (MMSE). Select physical health measures were obtained (i.e. weight, height, BP, waist circumference). Health records of each subject were reviewed. Almost half of the subjects self-reported a fall (45%). Factors identified as associated with the occurrence of a fall were having a hearing impairment, impaired, functional ability, higher BMI, and a lower score on the MMSE. Calculated fall risk based on the HealthCalc reflected the difference in functional ability with those at a higher function at a lower risk of falls. Several previously documented fall risk factors (i.e. number of medications, cardiovascular conditions) were not supported. As falls are a significant factor in mortality and morbidity among the elderly routine assessment of function as measured by actual performance as well as screening of cognition, depression and hearing are essential for the identification of those at-risk. These assessments need to be done routinely on community dwelling elderly for initiation of preventative interventions.
Session #1196 - Long Term Care
The 29th Annual MNRS Research Conference (April 1-4, 2005)