Esa, Wafaak
(2015)
Prevalence of falls and its associated factors among elderly in Kota Bharu, Kelantan : results from the elderly health screening program.
Masters thesis, Universiti Sains Malaysia.
Abstract
Population ageing is taking place globally including in Malaysia. Prevalence of
obesity among the elderly is also increasing worldwide. Falls among the elderly lead
to morbidity, mortality and is also an economic burden. The aim of this cross
sectional study was to determine the prevalence of falls among the elderly and its
associated factors especially of body mass index factor among elderly who
participated in a health screening program between January and December 2014 in
Kota Bharu, Kelantan. Data were obtained from the health screening form from all
government health clinics in Kota Bharu. There were 434 elderly who fulfilled the
inclusion and exclusion criteria. A whole population sampling was employed. The
descriptive and multiple logistic regression was applied to answer the objectives of
the study. The results showed that the prevalence of falls among elderly who
participated in the health screening program was 23.3% (95% CI 0.19, 0.27). This
study demonstrated that falls was associated with obesity (OR adj 2.55, 95% CI:
1.15, 5.68; p= 0.021). Other significant associated factors of falls were age more than
80 years old (OR adj 36.14, 95% CI: 9.06, 144,13; p<0.001), being female (OR adj
0.48, 95% CI: 0.25, 0.93; p= 0.030), being employed (OR adj 0.05, 95% CI: 0.07,
0.29; p=0.001), symptoms of dizziness (OR adj 6.90, 95% CI: 1.36, 35.06; p=0.020)
imbalance and instability (OR adj 11.65, 95% CI: 3,65, 37.20; p<0.001),
polypharmacy (OR adj 4.18, 95% CI: 1.46, 12.00 ; p=0.008) and high waist
circumference (OR adj 2.42, 95% CI: 1.22, 4.80; p=0.011). This study demonstrated
that the prevalence of falls among elderly is still an issue and its associated factors
especially obesity should be intervened.
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