Abstract
Purpose: To examine the base rate of falls for a group of community-living elderly people in Hong Kong.
Methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study of 554 elderly people aged 65 years or above living in various geographical regions of Hong Kong, who had completed assessments at a community centre over a period of 4 months. Participants were recruited by convenience sampling and stratified by age range according to the distribution in Hong Kong population. They were asked to report on their fall history for a period of the 12 months before joining the study.
Results: Of all the participants, 111 reported having fallen during the preceding 12 months. The fall rate was 29%, and the 1 -year prevalence of falls was 20%, dropping to 6.3% for two or more falls. Of all the falls, 47.7% occurred indoors whereas 52.3% occurred outdoors. Results showed female gender, Timed Up & Go Test, self-reported history of upper limb fracture, an intake of four or more types of medication, receiving rehabilitation services, and living with a couple only were independent predictors for fallers with at least one fall. There were no significant differences between the number of near-miss experienced by fallers and nonfallers in the past 12 months.
Conclusion: We determined the base rate of falls for a group of community-living elderly people of Hong Kong. Retrospective methods, which ask elderly people living in a community to recall their falls, may be used to identify risks preceding falls and to facilitate early intervention. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved.
Methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study of 554 elderly people aged 65 years or above living in various geographical regions of Hong Kong, who had completed assessments at a community centre over a period of 4 months. Participants were recruited by convenience sampling and stratified by age range according to the distribution in Hong Kong population. They were asked to report on their fall history for a period of the 12 months before joining the study.
Results: Of all the participants, 111 reported having fallen during the preceding 12 months. The fall rate was 29%, and the 1 -year prevalence of falls was 20%, dropping to 6.3% for two or more falls. Of all the falls, 47.7% occurred indoors whereas 52.3% occurred outdoors. Results showed female gender, Timed Up & Go Test, self-reported history of upper limb fracture, an intake of four or more types of medication, receiving rehabilitation services, and living with a couple only were independent predictors for fallers with at least one fall. There were no significant differences between the number of near-miss experienced by fallers and nonfallers in the past 12 months.
Conclusion: We determined the base rate of falls for a group of community-living elderly people of Hong Kong. Retrospective methods, which ask elderly people living in a community to recall their falls, may be used to identify risks preceding falls and to facilitate early intervention. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 33-40 |
| Journal | Hong Kong Journal of Occupational Therapy |
| Volume | 21 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jun 2011 |
Citation
Fong, K. N. K., Siu, A. M. H., Yeung, K. A., Cheung, S. W. S., & Chan, C. C. H. (2011). Falls among the community-living elderly people in Hong Kong: A retrospective study. Hong Kong Journal of Occupational Therapy, 21(1), 33-40. doi: 10.1016/j.hkjot.2011.05.005Keywords
- Accidental falls
- Community-living elderly
- Retrospective study