Accumulated Effect of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Risk Factors for Falls among Diseased Elderly Women in Taiwan

This study explored whether particular combinations of chronic diseases (intrinsic factors) and environmental hazards (extrinsic factors) were associated with falls and evaluated the relative importance of such factors. Data were derived from the 2005 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) in Taiwan. The study population included 916 diseased elderly women who were 65 years or older and lived in their homes. We adopted student's t-test, chi-square test, principal component analysis (PCA) and multiple logistic regression (LR) to determine associated risk factors for falls. We found that several variables were significantly related to falls, including Parkinson's disease (PD), dementia, arthritis, obstacles in doorways and the use of walking aids. PCA was used to identify two meaningful principal components (PCs) that account for 56.73% of the variance. The first component was neurological disorders, including Parkinson's disease and dementia. The second component, consisting of arthritis and obstacles in doorways, was termed high-risk arthritis. Stepwise LR was performed and identified that ＂the use of walking aids＂ was the most likely predictive factor, followed by neurological disorders and high-risk arthritis. This study indicated that the combined effects of particular intrinsic and extrinsic factors does indeed increase fall risk among diseased elderly women in Taiwan. We suggest that healthcare professionals should perform a multifactorial fall-risk assessment and offer intervention programs that include both disease-related and environmental conditions for such a high risk group.

並列關鍵字

risk factors ； elderly ； falls ； principal component analysis ； multiple logistic regression

國際替代計量

全文下載

主題瀏覽