The risk of falls among the aging population: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Qingmei Xu ¹

Xuemei Ou ¹

Jinfeng Li ¹

Hide authors affiliations Show authors affiliations: 1 affiliation

Department of Geriatrics, The Affiliated Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital of Southwest Medical University, China |

Publication type: Journal Article

Publication date: 2022-10-17

Frontiers Media S.A.

Frontiers in Public Health

scimago Q1

wos Q1

SJR: 1.027

CiteScore: 5.5

Impact factor: 3.4

ISSN: 22962565

DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.902599

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PubMed ID: 36324472

Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

Abstract

Aim

This study aims to clarify the risk factors for falls to prevent severe consequences in older adults.

Methods

We searched the PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Google Scholar databases using the terms “risk factors” OR “predicting factors” OR “predictor” AND “fall” OR “drop” to identify all relevant studies and compare their results. The study participants were divided into two groups, the “fall group” and the “control group”, and differences in demographic characteristics, lifestyles, and comorbidities were compared.

Results

We included 34 articles in the analysis and analyzed 22 factors. Older age, lower education level, polypharmacy, malnutrition, living alone, living in an urban area, smoking, and alcohol consumption increased the risk of falls in the aging population. Additionally, comorbidities such as cardiac disease, hypertension, diabetes, stroke, frailty, previous history of falls, depression, Parkinson's disease, and pain increased the risk of falls.

Conclusion

Demographic characteristics, comorbidities, and lifestyle factors can influence the risk of falls and should be taken into consideration.

Found

1 citation

Vetrovsky Tomas

60 publications, 898 citations

h-index: 16

Charles University

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