Burden and Correlates of Falls among Rural Elders of South India: Mobility and Independent Living in Elders Study

Table 1

Characteristics of men and women by fall status.

Risk factors	Women ( = 281)		value	Men ( = 280)		value	Total ( = 561)		value
	Percent or mean ± SD			Percent or mean ± SD			Percent or mean + SD
	Nonfallers; ()	Fallers; ()		Nonfallers; ()	Fallers; ()		Nonfallers; ()	Fallers; ()
Demographic
Age (years) (mean	67.03 ± 6.1	68.15 ± 6.6	0.26	68.18 ± 6.7	65.75 ± 4.3	0.08	67.63 ± 6.49	67.34 ± 6.05	0.16
Height (cm) (mean	147 ± 5.9	146 ± 5.7	0.59	160 ± 5.7	163 ± 5.0	0.03	154.24 ± 8.85	152.22 ± 9.53	0.08
Weight (kg) (mean	50.12 ± 11.8	51.66 ± 15.2	0.44	55.09 ± 11.5	61.13 ± 10.4	0.01	52.72 ± 11.98	54.85 ± 14.50	0.72
BMI (kg/m^2) (mean	22.9 ± 4.69	23.8 ± 5.99	0.30	21.2 ± 3.9	22.9 ± 3.8	0.04	22.1 ± 4.38	23.5 ± 5.35	0.01
Marital status (single) (%)	59.4	70.2	0.1	10.5	0	0.078	33.9	46.5	0.02
No education (%)	91.0	93.6	0.40	54.3	37.5	0.08	71.8	74.6	0.36
Medical history
Poor vision (%)	88.0	93.6	0.19	77.3	87.5	0.18	82.4	91.5	0.03
Poor hearing (%)	9.0	12.8	0.28	0.4	0	0.91	4.5	8.5	0.12
Osteoarthritis (%)	73.5	80.9	0.19	66.8	91.7	0.007	70.0	84.5	0.006
Stroke (%)	6.4	10.6	0.22	8.2	16.7	0.15	7.3	12.7	0.09
Hypertension (%)	52.56	57.44	0.32	47.27	54.16	0.33	49.8	56.3	0.18
Cardiovascular disease (%)	65.4	85.1	0.005	47.3	70.8	0.02	55.9	80.3	<0.001
Diabetes (%)	15.38	14.89	0.56	10.93	25	0.054	13.1	18.3	0.15
Fractures (%)	5.6	6.4	0.5	5.1	4.2	0.65	5.3	5.6	0.56
Difficulty in mobility (%) (walking, standing, stooping, keeling, crouching, climbing)	97.4	100	0.33	91.4	87.5	0.36	94.3	95.8	0.43
Use walking aid (%)	18.4	25.5	0.17	27.7	29.2	0.52	23.3	26.8	0.30
Low physical activity (no exercise/no sports) (%)	92.7	95.7	0.35	95.3	91.7	0.34	94.1	94.4	0.59
Objective measurements
Depression: >5 (GDS-15 point scale) (%)	35.5	57.4	0.004	8.6	33.3	0.002	21.4	49.3	<0.001
Grip strength - kg (mean	12.9 ± 4.7	10.8 ± 4.4	0.013	19.7 ± 5.8	21.2 ± 6.6	0.29	16.78 ± 6.38	15.06 ± 7.48	0.098
Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) (mean	7.49 ± 2.7	5.57 ± 2.9	0.000	8.7 + 2.8	8.5 + 3.2	0.82	8.13 ± 2.87	6.60 ± 3.32	<0.001
Poor Short Physical Performance Battery (score ≤ 9) (%)	72.2	91.3	0.003	53.5	50	0.45	62.4	77.1	0.01
Balance (≤3)	31.2	58.7	<0.001	18.0	16.7	0.56	24.3	44.3	0.001
Gait speed (≤3)	90.6	95.7	0.20	71.5	58.3	0.13	80.6	82.9	0.39
Chair stand test (≤3)	87.6	95.7	0.08	72.7	75.0	0.51	79.8	88.6	0.05
400 Meters walk (% who attempted but could not complete + did not attempt)	39.7	63.8	0.002	27.0	37.5	0.19	33.1	54.9	<0.001
Systolic Blood pressure (mmHg) (mean	131 ± 22.4	133 ± 23.5	0.48	136 ± 23.4	136 ± 32.0	0.96	133.75 ± 23.13	134.61 ± 26.56	0.77
Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg) (mean	72 ± 11.25	74 ± 11.12	0.18	72 ± 11.4	75 ± 17.9	0.27	72.37 ± 11.35	74.82 ± 13.70	0.09
Activities of Daily Living (ADL) (% with difficulty)	69.7	87.2	0.008	72.3	75.0	0.49	71.0	83.1	0.02

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