Journal of Clinical Epidemiology
Volume 56, Issue 7 , Pages 659-668 , July 2003

Balance and mobility performance as treatable risk factors for recurrent falling in older persons

  • Vianda S Stel

      Affiliations

    • Institute for Research in Extramural Medicine (EMGO Institute), VU University Medical Center, P.O. Box 7057, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
    • ,
  • Jan H Smit

      Affiliations

    • Department of Sociology and Social Gerontology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
    • ,
  • Saskia M.F Pluijm

      Affiliations

    • Institute for Research in Extramural Medicine (EMGO Institute), VU University Medical Center, P.O. Box 7057, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
    • ,
  • Paul Lips

      Affiliations

    • Institute for Research in Extramural Medicine (EMGO Institute), VU University Medical Center, P.O. Box 7057, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
    • Department of Endocrinology, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author.

References 

  1. Tromp AM, Smit JH, Deeg DJH, Bouter LM, Lips P. Predictors for falls and fractures in the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam. J Bone Miner Res. 1998;13:1932–1939
  2. O'Loughlin JL, Robitaille Y, Boivin JF, Suissa S. Incidence of and risk factors for falls and injurious falls among the community-dwelling elderly. Am J Epidemiol. 1993;137:342–354
  3. Tinetti ME, Speechley M, Ginter SF. Risk factors for falls among elderly persons living in the community. N Engl J Med. 1988;319:1701–1707
  4. Campbell AJ, Borrie MJ, Spears GF, Jackson SL, Brown JS, Fitzgerald JL. Circumstances and consequences of falls experienced by a community population 70 years and over during a prospective study. Age Ageing. 1990;19:136–141
  5. Nevitt MC, Cummings SR, Hudes ES. Risk factors for injurious falls: a prospective study. J Gerontol. 1991;46:M164–M170
  6. Tinetti ME, Powell L. Fear of falling and low self-efficacy: a case of dependence in elderly persons. J Gerontol. 1993;48:35–38
  7. Sattin RW, Lambert Huber DA, DeVito CA, Rodriguez JG, Ros A, Bacchelli S, et al. The incidence of fall injury events among the elderly in a defined population. Am J Epidemiol. 1990;131:1028–1037
  8. Tinetti ME, Baker DI, McAvay G, Claus EB, Garrett P, Gottschalk M, et al. A multifactorial intervention to reduce the risk of falling among elderly people living in the community. N Engl J Med. 1994;331:821–827
  9. Buchner DM, Cress ME, de Lateur BJ, Esselman PC, Margherita AJ, Price R, et al. The effect of strength and endurance training on gait, balance, fall risk, and health services use in community-living older adults. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 1997;52:M218–M224
  10. Campbell AJ, Robertson MC, Gardner MM, Norton RN, Tilyard MW, Buchner DM. Randomised controlled trial of a general practice programme of home based exercise to prevent falls in elderly women. BMJ. 1997;315:1065–1069
  11. Campbell AJ, Robertson MC, Gardner MM, Norton RN, Buchner DM. Falls prevention over 2 years: a randomized controlled trial in women 80 years and older. Age Ageing. 1999;28:513–518
  12. Wolf SL, Barnhart HX, Kutner NG, McNeeley E, Coogler C, Xu T. Reducing frailty and falls in older persons: an investigation of tai chi and computerized balance training. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1996;44:489–497
  13. Gardner MM, Robertson MC, Campbell AJ. Exercise in preventing falls and fall related injuries in older people: a review of randomised controlled trials. Br J Sports Med. 2000;34:7–17
  14. Gillespie LD, Gillespie WJ, Robertson MC, Lamb SE, Cumming RG, Rowe BH. Interventions for preventing falls in the elderly people (Cochrane review). In: The Cochrane Library. Issue 3. Oxford: Update Software; 2001;
  15. Steinberg M, Cartwright C, Peel N, Williams G. A sustainable programme to prevent falls and near falls in community dwelling older people: results of a randomised trial. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2000;54:227–232
  16. Close J, Ellis M, Hooper R, Glucksman E, Jackson S, Swift C. Prevention of falls in the elderly trial (PROFET): a randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 1999;353:93–97
  17. Ory MG, Schechtman KB, Miller JP, Hadley EC, Fiatarone MA, Province MA, et al. Frailty and injuries in later life: the FICSIT trials. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1993;41:283–296
  18. Rizzo JA, Baker DI, McAvay G, Tinetti ME. The cost-effectiveness of a multifactorial targeted prevention program for falls among community elderly persons. Med Care. 1996;34:954–969
  19. Nevitt MC, Cummings SR, Kidd S, Black D. Risk factors for recurrent nonsyncopal falls. A prospective study. JAMA. 1989;261:2663–2668
  20. Campbell AJ, Borrie MJ, Spears GF. Risk factors for falls in a community-based prospective study of people 70 years and older. J Gerontol. 1989;44:M112–M117
  21. Tromp AM, Pluijm SM, Smit JH, Deeg DJH, Bouter LM, Lips P. Fall-risk screening test: a prospective study on predictors for falls in community-dwelling elderly. J Clin Epidemiol. 2001;54:837–844
  22. Stalenhoef PA, Diederiks JPM, Knottnerus JA, Kester A, Crebolder HFJM. Predictors of falls in community-dwelling elderly: a prospective cohort study. Thesis. Maastricht, The Netherlands; 1999.
  23. Pluijm SMF, Smit JH, Tromp AM, Stel VS, Deeg DJH, Bouter LM, Lips P. Identifying community-dwelling elderly at high risk for recurrent falling: results of a three year prospective study. Thesis. VU Amsterdam; 2001.
  24. Stalenhoef PA, Crebolder H, Knottnerus JA, Vanderhorst FGEM. Incidence, risk factors and consequences of falls among elderly subjects living in the community. A criteria based analysis. Eur J Public Health. 1997;7:328–334
  25. Wickham C, Cooper C, Margetts BM, Barker DJ. Muscle strength, activity, housing and the risk of falls in elderly people. Age Ageing. 1989;18:47–51
  26. Maki BE, Holliday PJ, Topper AK. A prospective study of postural balance and risk of falling in an ambulatory and independent elderly population. J Gerontol. 1994;49:M72–M84
  27. Brauer SG, Burns YR, Galley P. A prospective study of laboratory and clinical measures of postural stability to predict community-dwelling fallers. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2000;55:M469–M476
  28. Deeg DJH, Knipscheer CPM, van Tilburg W. Autonomy and well-being in the aging population: concepts and design of the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam. Bunnik: Netherlands Institute of Gerontology; 1993;
  29. Smit JH, Vries de MZ, Poppelaars JL. Data-collection and fieldwork procedures. In:  Deeg DJH,  Beekman ATF,  Kriegsman DMW, Westendorp-de Seriere  editor. Autonomy and well-being in the aging population II: report from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam 1992–1996. Amsterdam: VU University Press; 1998;p. 9–20
  30. Smit JH, de Vries MZ. Procedures and results of the field work. In:  Deeg DJH,  Westendorp-de Seriere M editor. Autonomy and well-being in the aging population I: report from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam 1992–1993. Amsterdam: VU University Press; 1994;p. 7–13
  31. Kellogg International Work Group on the prevention of falls by the elderly. The prevention of falls in later life. Dan Med Bull. 1987;34:1–24
  32. Guralnik JM, Simonsick EM, Ferrucci L, Glynn RJ, Berkman LF, Blazer DG, et al. A short physical performance battery assessing lower extremity function: association with self-reported disability and prediction of mortality and nursing home admission. J Gerontol. 1994;49:M85–M94
  33. Hsieh CY, Phillips RB. Reliability of manual muscle testing with a computerized dynamometer. J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 1990;13:72–82
  34. Kallman DA, Plato CC, Tobin JD. The role of muscle loss in the age-related decline of grip strength: cross-sectional and longitudinal perspectives. J Gerontol. 1990;45:M82–M88
  35. Voorrips LE, Ravelli AC, Dongelmans PC, Deurenberg P, Van Staveren WA. A physical activity questionnaire for the elderly. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1991;23:974–979
  36. Caspersen CJ, Bloemberg BP, Saris WH, Merritt RK, Kromhout D. The prevalence of selected physical activities and their relation with coronary heart disease risk factors in elderly men: the Zutphen Study, 1985. Am J Epidemiol. 1991;133:1078–1092
  37. Lips P, Pluijm SMF, Stel VS. Physical activity and the risk of falls in older men and women: the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam. J Bone Miner Res. 2001;16(suppl 1):S563
  38. Bassett DR, Ainsworth BE, Leggett SR, Mathien CA, Main JA, Hunter DC, et al. Accuracy of five electronic pedometers for measuring distance walked. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1996;28:1071–1077
  39. Tinetti ME, Richman D, Powell L. Falls efficacy as a measure of fear of falling. J Gerontol. 1990;45:P239–P243
  40. Beekman ATF, Deeg DJH, van Limbeek J. Criterion validity of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale (CES-D): results from a community-based sample of older subjects in The Netherlands. Psychol Med. 1997;27:231–235
  41. Radloff LS. The CES_D scale: a self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Appl Psychol Meas. 1977;1:385–401
  42. Kriegsman DM, Penninx BW, van Eijk JT, Boeke AJP, Deeg DJH. Self-reports and general practitioner information on the presence of chronic diseases in community dwelling elderly. A study on the accuracy of patients' self-reports and on determinants of inaccuracy. J Clin Epidemiol. 1996;49:1407–1417
  43. Central Bureau of Statistics . Health Interview Questionnaire. The Hague: CBS; 1989;
  44. Hosmer D, Lemeshow S. Applied logistic regression. New York: John Wiley & Sons Inc; 1989;
  45. Ferrucci L, Guralnik JM, Buchner D, et al.  Departures from linearity in the relationship between measures of muscular strength and physical performance of the lower extremities: the Women's Health and Aging Study. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 1997;52:M275–M285
  46. Rantanen T, Guralnik JM, Ferrucci L, Leveille S, Fried LP. Coimpairments: strength and balance as predictors of severe walking disability. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 1999;54:M172–M176
  47. Lord SR, Clark RD, Webster IW. Physiological factors associated with falls in an elderly population. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1991;39:1194–1200
  48. Gunter KB, White KN, Hayes WC, et al.  Functional mobility discriminates nonfallers from one-time and frequent fallers. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2000;55:M672–M676
  49. Day BL, Steiger MJ, Thompson PD, Marsden CD. Effect of vision and stance width on human body motion when standing: implications for afferent control of lateral sway. J Physiol. 1993;469:479–499
  50. Greig CA, Young A, Skelton DA, Pippet E, Butler FM, Mahmud SM. Exercise studies with elderly volunteers. Age Ageing. 1994;23:185–189
  51. Merlini L, Mazzone ES, Solari A, Morandi L. Reliability of hand-held dynamometry in spinal muscular atrophy. Muscle Nerve. 2002;26:64–70
  52. Peolsson A, Hedlund R, Oberg B. Intra- and inter-tester reliability and reference values for hand strength. J Rehabil Med. 2001;33:36–41
  53. Buchner DM, Hornbrook MC, Kutner NG, Tinetti ME, Ory MG, Mulrow CD, et al. Development of the common data base for the FICSIT trials. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1993;41:297–308
  54. Province MA, Hadley EC, Hornbrook MC, Lipsitz LA, Miller JP, Mulrow CD, et al. The effects of exercise on falls in elderly patients. A preplanned meta-analysis of the FICSIT Trials. Frailty and injuries: cooperative studies of intervention techniques. JAMA. 1995;273:1341–1347

PII: S0895-4356(03)00082-9

doi: 10.1016/S0895-4356(03)00082-9

Journal of Clinical Epidemiology
Volume 56, Issue 7 , Pages 659-668 , July 2003

Article Tools

* Image Usage & Resolution