Circumstances and Consequences of Falls in Community-Living Elderly in North Bangalore Karnataka

Abstract

Background: Falls are one of the causes of injuries and non-communicable diseases associated with old age. Falls lead to 20-30% of mild to severe injuries and are underlying cause of 10-15% of all emergency departments. Knowledge of the circumstances and consequences of falls is important for understanding the etiology and prevention of falls. Material and Methods: A community based cross sectional study was conducted for a period of one year. Complete enumerations of all the elderly were undertaken by house-to-house visit and a sample of 416 elderly was taken by simple random sampling. A pretested semistructured questionnaire was administered. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 17.Results: Prevalence of falls was 29.8 %, about 82.3% of the old had a single episode of fall, 17.7% had recurrent falls in a year. The fall rate was higher 65.7% among old, 26.3% in young old and 20.0% in very old, outdoor falls constituted 57.2%, indoor falls 42.8%. About 81.4% had one or the other form of injury. Injury rate was 82% in females and 80% in males. Statistically significant higher fall rate of 47.8% falls was seen with elderly who had fear of falling than those without fear of fall with 11.8%. Bruises, internal injuries were commonest (48.5%) and (13.8%) of injuries resulted in fractures.18.4% had difficulty in carrying out activities of daily living, deformity was observed in 12.6%, and residual disability in 10.6% of the elderly. Conclusion: The morbidity due to falls includes injuries, fractures, restricted mobility. The results of this study reflect on the circumstances observed in the indoor and outdoor falls like falls on the footpath, in the bathroom, while using stairs etc. The consequences like bruises and internal injuries followed by sprains, cuts and fractures have been observed. The study suggests possible ways of preventing falls