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Factors Contributing to Falls Leading to Fracture among Older Adults

Journal of Population Ageing volume 16, pages 121–135 (2023)Cite this article

Abstract

Injurious falls, especially those leading to bone fracture are major causes of death and disability among older people. The aim was to identify the factors and conditions associated with falls leading to fracture (FLF) among older adults in a developing country. The data was collected in 2019 and analyzed in 2020. In total, 300 patients and 590 age- and sex-matched controls were selected from two referral hospitals, and the eligible older individuals who were under the same family physicians of the patients respectively. Significant and direct associations observed between the risk of FLF and cardiovascular diseases, hobby during leisure time, current employment, vertigo, history of falling during the past five years and smoking (P < 0.05 for all). On the other hand, sleep quality, BMI, history of work under sunlight, education, vision acuity and duration of night sleep were inversely associated with the risk of FLF (P < 0.05 for all). FLF is highly predictable with several behavioral, environmental, and health-related factors. Making home and work safer places for older adults, conducting routine vision acuity test, adequate and quality sleeping in day and night, and quitting smoking may reduce the risk of falling among older adults. The results also suggested that the history of falls is a strong predictor of FLF.

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Fig. 1

Data Availability

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available due to its being the intellectual property of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

OR:

Odds ratio

CI:

Confidence interval

CVDs:

Cardiovascular diseases

BMI:

body mass index

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Funding

Shiraz University of Medical Sciences financially supported this study, Shiraz, Iran. (Grant number: 18241).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Epidemiology Department, School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

    Mahdieh Ardaneh

  2. HIV/AIDs Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

    Mohammad Fararouei

  3. Research Center for Health Sciences, Institute of Health School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

    Jafar Hassanzadeh

Authors
  1. Mahdieh Ardaneh
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  2. Mohammad Fararouei
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  3. Jafar Hassanzadeh
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Correspondence to Mohammad Fararouei.

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Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate

The participants were assured that their information is used for research proposes only. Because of the illiteracy of a considerable number of the patients, verbal consent was obtained from the participants. The study protocol was reviewed and approved by the ethical committee of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences.

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Not Applicable.

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Ardaneh, M., Fararouei, M. & Hassanzadeh, J. Factors Contributing to Falls Leading to Fracture among Older Adults. Population Ageing 16, 121–135 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12062-021-09326-6

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