Do recognitive factors and general balance of the elderly predict recurrent falls? -a prospective study-

Abstract

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was prospectively investigated whether recognitive factors and general balance of the elderly influence recurrent falls. [Subjects] The participants were 85 elderly, cared for at day care centers, who were followed for one year. [Methods] At baseline, we evaluated fall-related self-efficacy using the Modified Falls Efficacy Scale (MFES), and measured the gap between the actual reach distance and the estimated reach distance (GAE) as a recognitive factor. We also evaluated balance using the Timed Up and Go Test (TUG). For the follow-up, we interviewed the participants about the number of times they had fallen in the past year. We assigned whether the participants had fallen more than twice at follow-up to a dependent variable, and with MFES, GAE and TUG at baseline as independent variables, we performed a multiple logistic regression analysis to explore the factors which were related to recurrent falls. [Results] Fourteen participants had fallen more than twice, and it was found that GAE was related to recurrent falls. [Conclusion] GAE could be used as a factor for predicting the risk of recurrent falls.