Summary
Elderly persons living in the community are a heterogeneous population. Among them, the screening of persons at risk of falling is still a matter of debate. The aim of this analysis was to improve the identification process of elderly persons living in the community at risk for falling by nursing staff of community- based services. A secondary analysis was performed with the data from a prospective non-randomized interventional trial. The study included 268 community-dwelling older adults (mean age of 82 years, 81.3% female) from Ulm and Neu-Ulm with a followup period of 12 months. Fall risk indicators were extracted from the nursing assessment and analysis with crude odds ratios revealed the following risk indicators for falls: assistance when transferring, bathing and climbing a flight of stairs as well as fall history. Afterwards, fall risk indicators were selected by backward elimination in a multiple logistic regression. Variable selection identified a positive fall history and the need for assistance when bathing as important risk indicators. These two risk indicators could be used as a screening tool, which would be easy to perform by nursing staff in their daily work. This screening test defined as more than one fall in the last 12 months or bathing assistance, the first ADL to be affected in the disablement process, has a sensitivity of 85.3% and a specificity of 42.1%.
Zusammenfassung
Zu Hause lebende ältere Menschen stellen eine heterogene Population dar. In dieser ist das Screening nach Menschen mit einem erhöhten Sturzrisiko noch in der Diskussion. Ziel dieser Analyse war, diesen Identifikationsprozess für Mitarbeiter aus der ambulanten Pflege zu verbessern. Eine Sekundäranalyse der Daten einer prospektiven, nicht-randomisierten Interventionsstudie wurde durchgeführt. Die Studie schloss 268 zu Hause lebende ältere Menschen (Durchschnittsalter 82 Jahre, 81,3% Frauen) aus Ulm und Neu-Ulm ein. Die Nachuntersuchung erfolgte nach 12 Monaten. Sturzrisikoindikatoren wurden aus dem Pflegeassessment entnommen und eine Analyse mit rohen Odds Ratios zeigte folgende Sturzrisikoindikatoren: Hilfsbedarf beim Transfer, beim Baden und beim Treppensteigen sowie vorausgegangene Stürze. Danach wurden Sturzindikatoren mit Backward Elimination in einer multiplen logistischen Regression selektiert. Als wichtige Sturzindikatoren wurden nur vorausgegangene Stürze und Hilfsbedarf beim Baden identifiziert. Diese beiden Risikoindikatoren könnten als Screening-Test genutzt werden. Die Durchführung ist einfach und kann vom Pflegepersonal im täglichen Arbeitsalltag erfolgen. Dieser Screening-Test definiert als mehrere Stürze in den letzten 12 Monaten oder Hilfsbedarf beim Baden, die erste betroffene ADL im Alterungsprozess, hat eine Sensitivität von 85,3% und eine Spezifität von 42,1%.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literatur
Beauchet O, Dubost V, Herrmann F, Rabilloud M, Gonthier R, Kressig RW (2005) Relationship between dualtask related gait changes and intrinsic risk factors for falls among transitional frail older adults. Aging Clin Exp Res 17:270–275
Becker C, Loy S, Sander S, Nikolaus T, Rissmann U, Kron M (2005) An algorithm to screen long-term care residents at risk for accidental falls. Aging Clin Exp Res 17:186–192
Bullinger M, Morfeld M, Kohlmann T, Nantke J, van den BH, Dodt B, Dunkelberg S, Kirchberger I, Kruger- Bodecker A, Lachmann A, Lang K, Mathis C, Mittag O, Peters A, Raspe HH, Schulz H (2003) [SF-36 Health Survey in Rehabilitation Research. Findings from the North German Network for Rehabilitation Research, NVRF, within the rehabilitation research funding program]. Rehabilitation (Stuttg) 42:218–225
Collen FM, Wade DT, Robb GF, Bradshaw CM (1991) The Rivermead Mobility Index: a further development of the Rivermead Motor Assessment. Int Disabil Stud 13:50–54
Cummings SR, Nevitt MC, Kidd S (1988) Forgetting falls. The limited accuracy of recall of falls in the elderly. J Am Geriatr Soc 36:613–616
D’Ath P, Katona P, Mullan E, Evans S, Katona C (1994) Screening, detection and management of depression in elderly primary care attenders. I: The acceptability and performance of the 15 item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS15) and the development of short versions. Fam Pract 11:260–266
Fried LP, Bandeen-Roche K, Chaves PH, Johnson BA (2000) Preclinical mobility disability predicts incident mobility disability in older women. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 55:M43–M52
Fried LP, Ettinger WH, Lind B, Newman AB, Gardin J (1994) Physical disability in older adults: a physiological approach. Cardiovascular Health Study Research Group. J Clin Epidemiol 47:747–760
Hawes C, Morris JN, Phillips CD, Fries BE, Murphy K, Mor V (1997) Development of the nursing home Resident Assessment Instrument in the USA. Age Ageing 26(Suppl 2):19–25
Katzman R, Brown T, Fuld P, Peck A, Schechter R, Schimmel H (1983) Validation of a short Orientation- Memory-Concentration Test of cognitive impairment. Am J Psychiatry 140:734–739
Kron M, Loy S, Sturm E, Nikolaus T, Becker C (2003) Risk indicators for falls in institutionalized frail elderly. Am J Epidemiol 158:645–653
Lord SR, March LM, Cameron ID, Cumming RG, Schwarz J, Zochling J, Chen JS, Makaroff J, Sitoh YY, Lau TC, Brnabic A, Sambrook PN (2003) Differing risk factors for falls in nursing home and intermediate-care residents who can and cannot stand unaided. J Am Geriatr Soc 51:1645–1650
Nevitt MC, Cummings SR, Kidd S, Black D (1989) Risk factors for recurrent nonsyncopal falls. A prospective study. JAMA 261:2663–2668
Northridge ME, Nevitt MC, Kelsey JL, Link B (1995) Home hazards and falls in the elderly: the role of health and functional status. Am J Public Health 85:509–515
Perell KL, Nelson A, Goldman RL, Luther SL, Prieto-Lewis N, Rubenstein LZ (2001) Fall risk assessment measures: an analytic review. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 56:M761–M766
Raiche M, Hebert R, Prince F, Corriveau H (2000) Screening older adults at risk of falling with the Tinetti balance scale. Lancet 356:1001–1002
Speechley M, Tinetti M (1991) Falls and injuries in frail and vigorous community elderly persons. J Am Geriatr Soc 39:46–52
Tinetti ME, Speechley M (1989) Prevention of falls among the elderly. N Engl J Med 320:1055–1059 282 L. Coll-Planas et al.: Improving the identification process of persons at risk of falling
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Coll-Planas, L., Kron, M., Sander, S. et al. Accidental falls among community-dwelling older adults. Z Gerontol Geriatr 39, 277–282 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00391-006-0396-0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00391-006-0396-0