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Incidence of falls and fear of falling in Japanese patients with rheumatoid arthritis

  • Original Article
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Modern Rheumatology

Abstract

The objective of this study is to determine the incidence of falls and fear of falling by gender and age in Japanese patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Among the Japanese patients who participated in a single-institute-based prospective observational cohort study of patients with RA, namely the Institute of Rheumatology Rheumatoid Arthritis, 765 men (median age 63 years) and 4,231 women (median age 60 years) with RA responded to questions related to falls. Eight percent of men and 11% of women reported one or more falls during the previous 6 months. At least one fall and multiple falls were significantly more frequent in men (p < 0.05) and in women (p < 0.001) with RA over age 65 and age 75 years, respectively, although there was no significant linear increase in risk with age. Sixteen percent of men and 22% of women reported fear of falling. More men over age 65 tended to report fear of falling than those under age 65 (p < 0.001), although the incidence of women with fear of falling increased with advancing age. Japanese patients with RA over age 65 and age 75 appeared to have a high risk of at least one fall and multiple falls, respectively.

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Acknowledgments

We thank all members of the Institute of Rheumatology, Tokyo Women’s Medical University, for the successful management of the IORRA cohort and Dr. R. L. Wilder for his useful suggestions. The IORRA cohort was supported by non-restricted research grants from 37 pharmaceutical companies: Abbott Japan Co., Ltd., Asahikasei Kuraray Medical Co., Ltd., Asahikasei Pharma Corporation, Astellas Pharma Inc., AstraZeneca K.K., Banyu Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Daiichi Fine Chemical Co., Ltd., Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd., Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma Co., Ltd., Eisai Co., Ltd., GlaxoSmithKline K.K., Janssen Pharmaceutical K.K., Japan Tobacco Inc., Kaken Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Kissei Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Kowa Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Mitsubishi Chemical Medience Corporation, Mitsuibishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation, Mundipharma K.K., Nippon Chemiphar Co., Ltd., Nippon Shinyaku Co., Ltd., Novartis Pharma K.K., Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Pfizer Japan Inc., Sanofi-Aventis K.K., Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Sanwa Kagaku Kenkyusho Co., Ltd., Sekisui Medical Co., Ltd., Taisho Toyama Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Teijin Pharma Limited, Torii Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Toyama Chemical Co., Ltd., UCB Japan Co., Ltd., Wyeth K.K. and Zeria Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. This work was also partly supported by a grant from the Japanese Osteoporosis Foundation.

Conflict of interest

HY received research grants from Chugai Pharma, Asteras Pharma, Wyeth, Daiichi-Sankyo, Banyu Pharma, Tanabe-Mitsubishi Pharma, Abbott, Eisai, Santen Pharma, Taisyo-Toyama Pharma, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., Kissei Pharma and Yanssen Pharma. HY received lecture fees from Abbott, Eisai, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., Tanabe-Mitsubishi Pharma, Janssen Pharma, Hoffmann-La Roche and Chugai Pharma. The other authors have declared no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Rheumatology, Tokyo Women’s Medical University, 10-22 Kawada-cho, Shinjyuku-ku, Tokyo, 162-0054, Japan

    Kiyotaka Yamagiwa, Takefumi Furuya, Eisuke Inoue, Atsuo Taniguchi, Shigeki Momohara & Hisashi Yamanaka

  2. Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 3-25-1 Kandajimbou-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 101-0051, Japan

    Setsu Iijima

  3. Department of Rehabilitation, Tokyo Women’s Medical University, 8-1 Kawada-cho, Shinjyuku-ku, Tokyo, 162-8666, Japan

    Tetsuo Ikai

Authors
  1. Kiyotaka Yamagiwa
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  2. Setsu Iijima
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  3. Takefumi Furuya
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  4. Tetsuo Ikai
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  5. Eisuke Inoue
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  7. Shigeki Momohara
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  8. Hisashi Yamanaka
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Correspondence to Takefumi Furuya.

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Yamagiwa, K., Iijima, S., Furuya, T. et al. Incidence of falls and fear of falling in Japanese patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Mod Rheumatol 21, 51–56 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10165-010-0351-1

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