Risk of fall in community dwelling elderly individuals- a cross-sectional study

Background: Falls are very common in elderly population. Falls are a main cause of morbidity and disability in the elderly. More than one-third of persons 65 years of age or older fall each other, and in half of such cases the falls are recurrent. The risk doubles or triples in the presence of cognitive impairment or history of previous falls. Many view falls as merely a risk factor for fractures, disregarding the fact that falls can lead to affect quality of life and social and psychological consequences, with profound economic effects. This study is design to make aware about risk of fall among the elderly individuals. Research question is does risk of fall affect the community dwelling elderly individuals? and Aim of the study is to find out the risk of falls in community dwelling elderly fallers and non fallers individuals. Clinically this study will help to avoid the injuries which will occur because of fall. Methods: Total 30 participants were studied. History of falls in past 1 year was studied using falls questionnaire. Elderly individuals divided into two groups fallers and non-fallers. TUG test was performed on community dwelling elderly individuals. Result: Graph Pad 8 software is used for analysis. The participants who had a history of falls also has risk of falls according to their age group. Data is compared with inter groups fallers and non-fallers elderly community dwelling elderly individuals. Two-tailed P value equals 0.0205, 95% confidence interval of this difference (range 0.25-2.81) standard error of difference= 0.624. Unpaired t test is used for the analysis. Conclusion: Study concluded that the community dwelling elderly individuals who had not history of fall showing the risk of fall.