OBJECTIVES: We aimed to evaluate if malnutrition and rurality are associated with fall risk and future falls in community-dwelling older adults. DESIGN: Prospective Cohort. SETTING: Community, Vermont. PARTICIPANTS: Older adults receiving home support services who completed a health risk assessment (n=3,300; Mean age 79.6 years ±8.4, 75% female). Additional analysis was completed with a subset of 2,043 participants with two-years of consecutive health assessments. MEASUREMENTS: Fall Risk Questionnaire, DETERMINE Nutrition Risk Questionnaire, and fall history. RESULTS: Independently, high malnutrition risk and rurality were associated with fall risk (p<0.001) and high malnutrition risk was associated with rurality (p<0.001). After adjusting for age, sex, and physical function, individuals with high nutrition risk had a 66% increase in the odds of falling over the next year, but rurality was not significantly associated with a new fall. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that falls are associated with malnutrition risk, but the relationship between falls and rurality is less evident. Further research is needed to identify services that may best alleviate malnutrition risk in older adults and aspects of nutrition that are most protective against fall risk.
OBJECTIVES: We aimed to evaluate if malnutrition and rurality are associated with fall risk and future falls in community-dwelling older adults. DESIGN: Prospective Cohort. SETTING: Community, Vermont. PARTICIPANTS: Older adults receiving home support services who completed a health risk assessment (n=3,300; Mean age 79.6 years ±8.4, 75% female). Additional analysis was completed with a subset of 2,043 participants with two-years of consecutive health assessments. MEASUREMENTS: Fall Risk Questionnaire, DETERMINE Nutrition Risk Questionnaire, and fall history. RESULTS: Independently, high malnutrition risk and rurality were associated with fall risk (p<0.001) and high malnutrition risk was associated with rurality (p<0.001). After adjusting for age, sex, and physical function, individuals with high nutrition risk had a 66% increase in the odds of falling over the next year, but rurality was not significantly associated with a new fall. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that falls are associated with malnutrition risk, but the relationship between falls and rurality is less evident. Further research is needed to identify services that may best alleviate malnutrition risk in older adults and aspects of nutrition that are most protective against fall risk.
Entities:
Keywords:
Fall risk; nutrition; older adult; rural health; screening
Authors: Greg F Pereira; Cynthia M Bulik; Mark A Weaver; Wesley C Holland; Timothy F Platts-Mills Journal: Ann Emerg Med Date: 2014-08-13 Impact factor: 5.721
Authors: M J Torres; C Féart; C Samieri; B Dorigny; Y Luiking; C Berr; P Barberger-Gateau; L Letenneur Journal: Osteoporos Int Date: 2015-04-11 Impact factor: 4.507
Authors: Tracy Onega; Julie E Weiss; Jennifer Alford-Teaster; Martha Goodrich; M Scottie Eliassen; Sunny Jung Kim Journal: J Rural Health Date: 2019-03-26 Impact factor: 4.333
Authors: David C Grossman; Susan J Curry; Douglas K Owens; Michael J Barry; Aaron B Caughey; Karina W Davidson; Chyke A Doubeni; John W Epling; Alex R Kemper; Alex H Krist; Martha Kubik; Seth Landefeld; Carol M Mangione; Michael Pignone; Michael Silverstein; Melissa A Simon; Chien-Wen Tseng Journal: JAMA Date: 2018-04-24 Impact factor: 56.272
Authors: Laura Lorenzo-López; Ana Maseda; Carmen de Labra; Laura Regueiro-Folgueira; José L Rodríguez-Villamil; José C Millán-Calenti Journal: BMC Geriatr Date: 2017-05-15 Impact factor: 3.921
Authors: Francesco Cattaneo; Ilaria Buondonno; Debora Cravero; Francesca Sassi; Patrizia D'Amelio Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2022-09-20 Impact factor: 4.614