Premium
Severity of dementia as a risk factor for repeat falls among the institutionalized elderly in Japan
Author(s) -
Kobayashi Nami,
Kusuma Wati Dwi Nurviyandari,
Yamamoto Mariko,
Sugiyama Tomoko,
Sugai Yuuichi
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
nursing and health sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.563
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1442-2018
pISSN - 1441-0745
DOI - 10.1111/j.1442-2018.2009.00465.x
Subject(s) - dementia , risk factor , medicine , gerontology , falls in older adults , human factors and ergonomics , poison control , environmental health , disease
Abstract The study examined the impact of dementia severity on repeat fallers among the institutionalized elderly. A secondary analysis of a dataset containing information on 466 residents (86 of whom were fallers) of nine care facilities around Tokyo was carried out. Descriptive statistics were used to determine the baseline characteristics. Then, logistic regression analysis was carried out to identify the risk factors between the non‐fallers and fallers and between the single and repeat fallers. Finally, the relative risks that had an impact on the repeat fallers were calculated. Sixty‐one persons (13.1%) were identified as single fallers and 25 (5.4%) were identified as repeat fallers. An unstable gait was a dominant risk factor. In addition, the person's sex and the facility type were identified as risk factors for the fallers, while severe dementia was identified as a risk factor for the repeat fallers. Nurses should recognize the combination of severe dementia and unstable gait as a warning sign for potential repeat fallers.