Impact of a fall in the elderly: an analysis of the risk factors

• Autor(a) principal: Lima, Deivson Wendell da Costa
• Data de Publicação: 2013
• Outros Autores: Cruz, Alyne Mara Maia, Morais, Fabíola Maria Pitombeira de, Torres, Arthur Dyego de Morais, Freitas, Maria Célia de
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Rev Rene (Online)
• Texto Completo: http://periodicos.ufc.br/rene/article/view/3622
• topic: Elderly; Accidental Falls; Quality of Life; Risk Factors.

One aimed to identify the risk factors associated to falls in the elderly, which reflect on their quality of life. This is a descriptive, cross-sectional study. A questionnaire was used to collect data from older adults of an active living group from Russas-CE during the period from August to December 2011. The data were inserted in electronic spreadsheets, analyzed by the descriptive statistics and submitted to odds ratio and chi-square tests with significance level p<0.05. The results indicate a high prevalence of falls in the elderly, especially women (OR:14.636; CI- 2.82-75.954). The intrinsic significant factors were hearing problems (p=0,02) and foot problems (p=0,01). The extrinsic factors were steps in the door (17%), resulting in fractures of the upper limb (69%), morbidity (41%) and psychological complaints (70%). Therefore, it is necessary the development of preventive and rehabilitation actions, ensuring a better quality of life for the elderly. DOI:https://doi.org/10.15253/2175-6783.2013000500009