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In a national survey in Britain, 983 elderly people randomly selected from eight areas were asked about falls they had had in the past. The independent association of social and physical variables with a history of one or more falls was analysed by multiple logistic regression. Those who had fallen one or more times had reduced grip strength and were less mobile than those who had not fallen. More of them used non-phenothiazine tranquilizers, lived alone, had recently lost weight or were physically disabled. Independent of these influences, a history of having fallen was strongly related to place of residence. Part of this relationship was explained by differences in housing, in particular the percentage of houses without indoor lavatories.

Original publication

DOI

10.1093/ageing/18.1.47

Type

Journal article

Journal

Age ageing

Publication Date

01/1989

Volume

18

Pages

47 - 51

Keywords

Accidents, Home, Activities of Daily Living, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Anti-Anxiety Agents, Female, Housing, Humans, Male, Muscles, Random Allocation, Risk Factors, United Kingdom, Weight Loss