Abstract
Objective To assess the prevalence and health correlates of fall-related injury in a national population-based community-dwelling sample of older Indonesians. Methods Participants were 6698 older adults, 50 years and older (median age 58.0 years, IQR=11.0, and age range of 50–101 years), who took part in in the Indonesia Family Life Survey (IFLS-5) in 2014-15. They provided information about sociodemographic, various health variables, including a falling down and received treatment history in the last two years. Results Overall, 12.8% had one or more fall-related injuries in the past two years, 14.0% among women and 11.5% among men, 7.6% had a single fall, and 5.2% multiple fall-related injuries in the past two years. In multivariable logistic regression models, having two or more chronic conditions, urinary problems, and functional disability was independently associated with multiple fall-related injuries in the past two years in both sexes. Sex-specific risk factors were former tobacco use, having or having had a cataract, sleep disturbance, and sleep impairment in men and poorer economic background, depression symptoms, and low cognitive functioning in women. Conclusion A significant proportion of older adults in Indonesia have fall-related injury. Several homogenous between the sexes and sex-specific risk factors for fall-related injury were identified that can help in designing fall-prevention strategies.
Highlights
Fall-related injury in older adults has been recognized as a major public health issue [1,2,3]
The proportion of women was 51.9%, 72.2% had no or elementary education, 42.4% described themselves as having medium economic status, and 52.1% resided in urban areas
Some studies found an association between lower socioeconomic status [14] and residing in rural areas [4, 15], this study only found an association between lower economic status and multiple fall injuries in women
Summary
Fall-related injury in older adults has been recognized as a major public health issue [1,2,3]. In a study among older adults (50 years and older) in six middle-income countries, the prevalence of past-year fall-related injuries was 4.0%, ranging from 6.6 % in India and 3.1% in China to 1.0 % in South Africa [4]. In a local community-based study among older adults in Malaysia, the past-year prevalence of falls was 4.1% [7]. In a review on falls among older adults in Southeast Asia, Romli et al [8] found that more research is needed from all Southeast Asian countries, including Indonesia, to get ready for the management of falls in an ageing society. Various risk factors for fall injuries in older adults have been identified, including sociodemographic, health status, and health behaviour variables. Sociodemographic risk factors include increasing age [5, 10,11,12,13], being female [4, 5, 14], lower socioeconomic status [14], and residing in rural areas [4, 15]
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