Summary: | 碩士 === 長榮大學 === 醫務管理學系碩士班 === 99 === Background and purpose:
Past studies on risk factors of falls in elderly in Taiwan mostly focused on
specific cities or towns in remote areas. Very few studies used
nationally-representative samples for study. Furthermore, most were cross-sectional
design or used small sample for study and thus a causal relationship cannot be
established. We used a nationally-representative sample of Taiwan to investigate the
risk factors of occurrence and frequency of falls.
Methods:
Data for this longitudinal cohort study came from 1999 and 2003 waves of the
Survey of Health and Living Status of the Elderly in Taiwan. Binary and multinomial
logistic regression models were used for analyses.
Results:
Self-perceived health, bladder incontinence, mobility limitation, as well as
number of chronic diseases are the risk factors of occurrence and frequency of falling.
Conclusion:
To reduce the risk of falling, government agencies and health care providers
should improve elderly’s balance function, promote regular exercise, improve drug
safety, and implement fall-prevention protocols.
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