The MOBILIZE Boston Study: Design and methods of a prospective cohort study of novel risk factors for falls in an older population

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Falls are the sixth leading cause of death in elderly people in the U.S. Despite progress in understanding risk factors for falls, many suspected risk factors have not been adequately studied. Putative risk factors for falls such as pain, reductions in cerebral blood flow, somatosensory deficits, and foot disorders are poorly understood, in part because they pose measurement challenges, particularly for large observational studies.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The MOBILIZE Boston Study (MBS), an NIA-funded Program Project, is a prospective cohort study of a unique set of risk factors for falls in seniors in the Boston area. Using a door-to-door population-based recruitment, we have enrolled 765 persons aged 70 and older. The baseline assessment was conducted in 2 segments: a 3-hour home interview followed within 4 weeks by a 3-hour clinic examination. Measures included pain, cerebral hemodynamics, and foot disorders as well as established fall risk factors. For the falls follow-up, participants return fall calendar postcards to the research center at the end of each month. Reports of falls are followed-up with a telephone interview to assess circumstances and consequences of each fall. A second assessment is performed 18 months following baseline.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the 2382 who met all eligibility criteria at the door, 1616 (67.8%) agreed to participate and were referred to the research center for further screening. The primary reason for ineligibility was inability to communicate in English. Results from the first 600 participants showed that participants are largely representative of seniors in the Boston area in terms of age, sex, race and Hispanic ethnicity. The average age of study participants was 77.9 years (s.d. 5.5) and nearly two-thirds were women. The study cohort was 78% white and 17% black. Many participants (39%) reported having fallen at least once in the year before baseline.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results demonstrate the feasibility of conducting comprehensive assessments, including rigorous physiologic measurements, in a diverse population of older adults to study non-traditional risk factors for falls and disability. The MBS will provide an important new data resource for examining novel risk factors for falls and mobility problems in the older population.</p

Different types of distrust in clinical research among whites and African Americans.

BACKGROUND: African Americans are thought to be more distrustful of clinical research compared to elderly whites, but it is unknown whether specific types of distrust in clinical research, such as interpersonal or societal distrust, vary according to race. The primary objective was to identify racial differences in interpersonal or societal distrust in clinical research among African Americans and whites. METHODS: Seven hundred seventy-six older African Americans and whites were surveyed about their interpersonal and societal distrust using a 7-item index of distrust in clinical research. We combined the 2 societal distrust items into a societal distrust subscale. We also assessed trust in primary care physicians, access to care, health/functional status, previous exposure to clinical research, awareness of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, perceived discrimination in health care, and sociodemographic characteristics. RESULTS: High societal distrust was more common among African Americans compared to whites (21% vs 7% in the top quartile of the societal distrust, p < .0001), but there were no racial differences in responses to the individual interpersonal distrust index items. In sequentially built multivariable analyses, the relationship between African American race and societal distrust (odds ratio, 2.2; 95% CI, 1.2-3.7) was not completely explained by other factors such as trust in one's physician, previous discrimination, or awareness of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. CONCLUSIONS: Racial differences according to the type of distrust in clinical research may warrant assessing specific types of distrust separately among racially diverse populations in future studies

Recruitment and Retention of Older Adults in Aging Research

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/65317/1/j.1532-5415.2008.02015.x.pd