Article

The aim of this study was to explore how activity of daily living
(ADL) stages and the perception of unmet needs for home accessibility features
associate with a history of falling. DESIGN: Participants were from a nationally
representative sample from the Second Longitudinal Survey of Aging conducted in
1994. The sample included 9250 community-dwelling persons 70 yrs or older. The
associations of ADL stage and perception of unmet needs for home accessibility
features with a history of falling within the past year (none, once, or multiple
times) were explored after accounting for sociodemographic characteristics and
comorbidities using a multinomial logistic regression model. RESULTS: The
adjusted relative risk of falling more than once peaked at 4.30 (95% confidence
interval, 3.29-5.61) for persons with severe limitation (ADL-III) compared those
with no limitation (ADL-0) then declined for those at complete limitation
(ADL-IV). The adjusted relative risks of falling once and multiple times were
1.42 (95% confidence interval, 1.07-1.87) and 1.85 (95% confidence interval,
1.44-2.36), respectively, for those lacking home accessibility features.
CONCLUSIONS: Risk of falling appeared greatest for those whose homes lacked
accessibility features and peaked at intermediate ADL limitation stages,
presumably at a point when people have significant disabilities but sufficient
function to remain partially active.

Langue : ANGLAIS