Assessment of the frequency of falls and attendant risk factors, in conjunction with self-perceived quality of life, in elderly residents of nursing facilities in Wroclaw, Poland

Abstract

IntroductionAn increase in the average life expectancy constitutes one of the greatest achievements of humanity, and at the same time a serious challenge for modern health protection and social care systems. The main aim of the work is to investigate quality of life and risk of falls.MethodsForty-four people (30 women and 14 men) aged 63 to 99 (average: 83.2 ± 7.2) recruited from two local nursing homes participated in the study. To assess the risk of falling FallScreen (physiological profile assessment, Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute) in a shortened version was used. To assess QoL (quality of life), the Polish version of the SF-36 questionnaire in its standard version was used.ResultsIt was indicated that in the year preceding the study, nearly 60% of participants fell; 32% (<i>n</i> = 14) fell once and 27% (<i>n</i> = 12) fell twice or more. Occurrence of chronic diseases and taking at least three medications were reported by more than 80% of seniors. The Results section presents the components of the physical and mental dimensions of the self-assessment of the quality of life of the participants of the study. The average index of quality of life among the studied people was 94.3 points, which is 55.2% of the maximum score.ConclusionsThe dominating risk factor for falls, as established in the nursing home residents against the Physiological Profile Assessment (PPA) scale, consisted in slower reaction to a stimulus; its average value exceeding by threefold the reference value for healthy individuals of similar age.