Risk factors for falls among Iowa farmers: A case-control study nested in the Agricultural Health Study

Background: Patient falls are considered a challenge to the patient’s safety in hospitals, which, in addition to increasing the length of stay and costs, may also result in severe injuries or even the death of the patient. This study aims to investigate the associations between risk factors among fallers in comparison with the control group. Methods: A prospective nested case control study was performed on 185 patients who fell and 1141 controls were matched with the patients at risk of fall in the same ward and during the same time. This study was conducted in a university educational hospital in Tehran with 800 beds during a 9-month period. The data included demographics, comorbidities, admission details, types of medication, clinical conditions, and activities before or during the fall. The data was collected from clinical records, hospital information system, error reporting system and observations, and the interviews with the fallers, their families and care givers (physicians, nurses, etc). Data analysis was conducted through time-based matching using a multi-level analysis. Results: In a multilevel model including patient-related, medication, and care-related variables, the factors that were significantly associated with an increased risk of patient falls included: longer length of stay (odds ratio [OR] = 1.01; CI=0.32 to 0.73), using chemotherapy drugs, sedatives, anticonvulsants, benzodiazepines, and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, visual acuity (OR=6.93; CI=4.22 to 11.38), balance condition (OR= 6.41; CI=4.51 to 9.11), manual transfer aid (OR=8.47; CI=5.65 to 12.69), urinary incontinence (OR= 8.47, CI= 5.65 to 12.69), and cancer (OR=2.86, CI=1.84-4.44). These factors were found to be associating with more odds for a falling accident among patients. Several characteristics such as fall history (OR=0.48; CI= 1.003 to 1.02), poly-pharmacy (OR=1.37, CI=00.85 to 2.2), stroke (OR=0.94, CI= 0.44 to 2.02), and nurse to patient ratio (incidence rate ratio=1.01, CI=0.01 to 0.03) were not significantly associated with falling in hospitals. Conclusion: It seems that a combination of both patient-related factors and history of medication should be considered. Moreover, modifiable clinical characteristics of patients such as vision improvement, provision of manual transfer aid, diabetes control, regular toilet program, and drug modification should be considered during the formulation of interventions.

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Do Parkinson's disease people fall more than the general population? A case control study of possible risk factors for falls

Parkinsonism & Related Disorders ◽

10.1016/j.parkreldis.2020.06.294 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 79 ◽

pp. e80-e81

Author(s):

M. Thakre ◽

C. Sankhla

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Parkinson’S Disease ◽

Parkinson's Disease ◽

General Population ◽

Case Control Study ◽

Case Control ◽

Risk Factors For Falls ◽

Control Study

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Risk factors for falls with severe fracture in elderly people living in a middle-income country: a case control study

BMC Geriatrics ◽

10.1186/1471-2318-8-21 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 41

Author(s):

Evandro SF Coutinho ◽

Astrid Fletcher ◽

Katia V Bloch ◽

Laura C Rodrigues

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Elderly People ◽

Case Control Study ◽

Case Control ◽

Middle Income Country ◽

Income Country ◽

Middle Income ◽

Risk Factors For Falls ◽

Severe Fracture ◽

Control Study

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First Age- and Gender-Matched Case-Control Study in Australia Examining the Possible Association between Toxoplasma gondii Infection and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: The Busselton Health Study

Journal of Parasitology Research ◽

10.1155/2020/3142918 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2020 ◽

pp. 1-11

Author(s):

Aus Molan ◽

Kazunori Nosaka ◽

Michael Hunter ◽

Jinxia Zhang ◽

Xiaoni Meng ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Case Control Study ◽

Case Control ◽

Health Study ◽

Age And Gender ◽

Matched Case ◽

And Gender ◽

Matched Case Control Study ◽

Control Study

An emerging field of research is starting to examine the association of infectious pathogens with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). An understudied parasite of interest is Toxoplasma gondii. Globally, very few studies have been conducted to investigate this association. Additionally, very little data exists on the prevalence of T. gondii in the general Australian population. Our group sought to determine the prevalence, association, and risk factors between T. gondii infection and T2DM from a representative Australian human population. Through a cross-sectional, age- and gender-matched case-control study, 150 subjects with T2DM together with 150 control subjects from the Busselton Health Study cohort were investigated. Sera samples were tested for the presence of anti-T. gondii IgG and IgM antibodies using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Survey-derived data were also analyzed to evaluate associated risk factors. The IgG seroprevalence was found to be 62% and 66% for the T2DM and control groups, respectively (OR:0.84; p=0.471). IgM antibodies were detected in 5% of the T2DM patients and in 10% of the controls (OR=0.51; p=0.135). There were no significant differences between male and female IgG seroprevalence rates for both groups (OR:0.88, 0.80; p=0.723). The IgG seropositivity rate increased significantly in T2DM patients aged 45-84 years in comparison to those aged 18-44 years (p<0.05), but this was not observed in the control subjects. No risk factors were associated with T. gondii seropositivity in both groups. The first Australian study of its kind found T. gondii infection in Western Australia to be highly prevalent. The results also showed that there is no serological evidence of an association between T. gondii infection and T2DM in the studied subjects. Australian health authorities should focus on raising awareness of toxoplasma infection and target T. gondii transmission control. Further studies are needed to clarify the role of T. gondii in T2DM.

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Visual Risk Factors for Falls in Older Adults: A Case-Control Study

10.21203/rs.3.rs-760272/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jignasa Mehta ◽

Gabriela Czanner ◽

Simon Harding ◽

David Newsham ◽

Jude Robinson

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Older Adults ◽

Visual Acuity ◽

Older People ◽

Depth Perception ◽

Case Control Study ◽

Case Control ◽

Risk Of Falls ◽

Risk Factors For Falls ◽

Control Study

Abstract Background Falls are the second leading cause of accidental deaths worldwide mainly in older people. Older people have poor vision and published evidence suggests that it is a risk factor for falls. Less than half of falls clinics assess vision as part of the multi-factorial assessment of older adults at risk of falls despite vision being an essential input for postural stability. The aim of our study was to investigate the relationship between all clinically assessed visual functions and falls amongst older adults in a prospective observational individually age-matched case control study. Methods Visual acuity (VA), contrast sensitivity (CS), depth perception, binocular vision and binocular visual field were measured using routinely used clinical methods in falls participants (N = 83) and non-falls participants (N = 83). Data were also collected on socio-demographic factors, general health, number of medications, health quality, fear of falling and physical activity. Logistic regression analysis was carried out to determine key visual and non-visual risk factors for falls whilst adjusting for confounding covariates. Results Older adults have an increased risk of experiencing a fall if they have reduced visual function (odds ratio (OR): 3.49, 1.64–7.45, p = 0.001), specifically impaired stereoacuity worse than 85” of arc (OR: 3.4, 1.20–9.69, p = 0.02) and reduced (by 0.15 log unit) high spatial frequency CS (18 cpd) (OR:1.40, 1.12–1.80, p = 0.003). Older adults with a hearing impairment are also at higher risk of falls (OR: 3.18, 95% CI: 1.36–7.40, p = 0.007). The risk decreases with living in a less deprived area (OR: 0.74, 0.64–0.86, < 0.001), or socialising more out of the home (OR: 0.75, 0.60–0.93, p = 0.01). Conclusions The combination of social, behavioural and biological determinants are significant predictors of a fall. The non-visual risk factors include older adults, living in deprived neighbourhoods, socialising less outside of the home and those who have a hearing impairment. Impaired functional visual measures; depth perception and contrast are significant visual risk factors for falls above visual acuity.

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