Association between urinary urgency and falls among rural dwelling older women

Association between toileting and falls in older adults admitted to the emergency department and hospitalised: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to explore the potential risk factors associated with toileting-related falls in community-dwelling older adults who presented to the emergency department and were subsequently hospitalised.

DESIGN

This was a cross-sectional study.

SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS

This study was conducted in two teaching hospitals in Shanghai, China between October 2019 and December 2021 among community-dwelling adults aged ≥60 years.

METHODS

In-person interviews, physical assessment and medical record review were performed to collect data on the characteristics and risk factors of falls. Associations of toileting-related falls with demographic characteristics and geriatric syndromes were examined using logistic regression models.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Potential risk factors for toileting-related falls.

RESULTS

This study included 419 older patients with a mean age of 73.8±9.7 years. Among 60 (14.3%) patients with toileting-related falls (mean age: 78.8±9.2 years), 63.3% of toileting-related falls, mainly occurred between 00:00 and 05:59 hours, compared with 17.3% of non-toileting-related falls, which primarily occurred during the daytime. The rate of recurrent falls (35%) was significantly higher in the toileting-related falls group than in the non-toileting-related falls group (21.2%) (p=0.02). Logistic regression showed that visual impairment (OR 2.7, 95% CI 1.1 to 7.1), cognitive impairment (OR 3.3, 95% CI 1.3 to 8.4), gait instability (OR 3.1, 95% CI 1.1 to 8.8) and urinary incontinence (OR 3.4, 95% CI 1.2 to 9.9) were strongly associated with toileting-related falls. Twenty-three (38.3%) patients in the toileting-related falls group had moderate and severe injuries, compared with 71.7% in the non-toileting-related falls group (p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

This study revealed that patients who reported toileting-related falls were more likely to have cognitive impairment, urinary incontinence, gait instability, visual impairment than patients who fell during other activities. Social and healthcare professionals should prioritise the management of toileting activities in older patients and provide targeted interventions to those in the high-risk group.

Smart homes for the older population: particularly important during the COVID-19 outbreak

Osteoporosis, one of the leading causes of disability in older adults, significantly reduces the quality of life and leads to loss of independence. Dynamic development of “smart” solutions based on artificial intelligence more and more commonly applied in older people’s houses may be an answer to the above issues.

The aim of this study is to present selected “smart home” solutions for the diagnosis and prevention of falls in the older population through a literature review. The conducted meta-analysis based on a review of the scientific literature available in English and Polish in the Medline/PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and GBL databases was undertaken from 01.01.2015 to 01.10.2020 with the string search method using key words.

According to the authors of this study, the development of new technology based on artificial intelligence allows older people to live independently, which contributes to a higher level of life satisfaction and quality.