Recurrent falls and risk factors among institutionalized older people

Recurrent falls constitute a high risk for morbidity and mortality among older people, especially institutionalized individuals, due to greater frailty and functional decline in this group. The aim of this study was to identify risk factors associated with recurrent falls among institutionalized older persons. A longitudinal cohort study was conducted over a one-year period with a study sample consisting of individuals aged 60 years and over living in 10 Nursing homes (NH) who were able to walk and had preserved cognitive ability. The older persons and carers were asked about the occurrence of falls over the last twelve months. The older persons were considered recurrent fallers if they had had two or more falls during this period. Institutional, sociodemographic and health data was also collected using questionnaires and the residents' medical records. One hundred and thirty individuals were included in the sample out of a total of 364 older people living in the NH. The incidence of recurrent falls was 26.9% (CI95% = 22.4 - 31.5). The results of the chi-square test and logistic regression adopting a significance level of 0.05 showed that fatigue was a risk factor for recurrent falls(p = 0.001; RR = 2.9) and that the use of beta blockers was a protective factor (p = 0.010; RR = 0.1). It was concluded that recurrent falls are common in NH and that fatigue constitutes an important risk factor.