Association of Home Falls and Accidents Screening Tool (HOME FAST) with risk of fall in older adults: Ardakan Cohort Study on Ageing (ACSA)

Introduction: Falls are a significant threat to older adults' health. The home falls and accidents screening tool (HOME FAST) was introduced as a screening tool for identifying hazards inside the home. This study aimed to investigate the ability of this tool to predict older adults at risk of falls.Materials and methods: This study analyzed cross-sectional data from the Ardakan Cohort Study on Aging (ACSA) participants. HOME FAST was collected through home visits by interviewers. Fall history during the last 12 months was collected as a self-report. The discrimination was assessed by the receiver operating characteristic curve.Results: A total of 4990 adults older than 50 participated in the current study, of which 47.65% were female, and the mean age was 61.5. Among them, 19.9% reported falls during the last year. The mean HOME FAST score was 6.2 for non-fallers, 6.5 for one-time fallers, and 6.4 for multipletime fallers (P = 0.047). The HOME FAST score over the optimal cut-point (five) was not associated with increased fall risk in the multivariate model.Conclusion: Based on the findings, the HOME FAST score failed to be a screening tool for falls in the Iranian population. However, further prospective studies are required to investigate this point. [GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT]