The Relationship Between Storey of Buildings and Fall Risk

Age related differences in whole body and body part angular momentum in the frontal plane during walking

The contribution of body part angular momentum (BPAM) to whole body angular momentum (WBAM) in the frontal plane during walking differs across age groups. We investigated age related differences in BPAM and WBAM during walking. We used marker coordinate data from a publicly available database for 54 individuals aged 20-30 years and 78 aged 60-70 years. Angular momentum in the frontal plane was calculated as the sum of the translational component and the rotational component for each segment. The angular momentum of each segment was categorized into five BPAM: right and left lower limbs (foot, shank, and thigh), right and left arms (hand, forearm, and upper arm), and torso (head, thorax, and pelvis). BPAM at WBAM peak frames during stride cycles was compared between older and younger adults. The peak WBAM, angular momentum of the stance-and swing side upper limbs, and torso in older adults was significantly larger than that in younger adults, with increases of 74.6% in the stance-side upper limb, 127.5% in the swing-side upper limb, and 30.9% in the torso. These results suggest that interventions aimed at improving torso control could decrease the amplitude of WBAM in the frontal plane in older adults.

Cognitive Frailty as a Predictor of Future Falls in Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

OBJECTIVES

To examine the association between cognitive frailty and the risk of future falls among older adults.

DESIGN

Systematic review and meta-analysis.

SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS

Older people aged ≥60 years with cognitive frailty from community, hospital, or both.

METHODS

PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, Wanfang Database, China Knowledge Resource Integrated Database (CNKI), Weipu Database (VIP), and Chinese Biomedical Database (CBM) were searched for relevant studies published from the inception of the database until June 14, 2022. Stata 16.0 software was used to perform the meta-analysis. A random effects model was used to pool the prevalence of falls in older adults over age 60 years with cognitive frailty and the strength of the association between cognitive frailty and falls [odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs]. Quality assessment, heterogeneity, and sensitivity analyses were also conducted. A study protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42022331323).

RESULTS

The review included 18 studies in qualitative synthesis, 14 of which were in meta-analysis. Eleven sets of cross-sectional data involving 23,025 participants and 5 sets of longitudinal data involving 11,924 participants were used in the meta-analysis. The results showed that the overall prevalence of falls in 1742 people with cognitive frailty was 36.3% (95% CI 27.9-44.8, I² = 93.4%). Longitudinal study results showed that cognitively frail individuals had a higher risk of falls (OR 3.02, 95% CI 2.11-4.32, I² = 0.0%, P = .406), compared to robust participants without cognitive impairment; physically frail people (alone) had a moderate risk of falls (OR 2.16, 95% CI 1.42-3.30, I² = 9.7%, P = .351); cognitively impaired people (alone) had a lower risk of falls (OR 1.36, 95% CI 1.03-1.79, I² = 0.0%, P = .440). Among cross-sectional studies, cognitive frailty was associated with the risk of falls (OR 2.74, 95% CI 2.20-3.40, I² = 53.1%, P = .019). Although high heterogeneity was noted among 11 cross-sectional studies reporting ORs, the sensitivity analysis showed that no single study significantly affected the final pooled results.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

This systematic review and meta-analysis confirms the findings that cognitive frailty was demonstrated to be a significant predictor of future falls in older adults. However, further prospective investigations are warranted.

The risk of falls among the aging population: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Aim

This study aims to clarify the risk factors for falls to prevent severe consequences in older adults.

Methods

We searched the PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Google Scholar databases using the terms "risk factors" OR "predicting factors" OR "predictor" AND "fall" OR "drop" to identify all relevant studies and compare their results. The study participants were divided into two groups, the "fall group" and the "control group", and differences in demographic characteristics, lifestyles, and comorbidities were compared.

Results

We included 34 articles in the analysis and analyzed 22 factors. Older age, lower education level, polypharmacy, malnutrition, living alone, living in an urban area, smoking, and alcohol consumption increased the risk of falls in the aging population. Additionally, comorbidities such as cardiac disease, hypertension, diabetes, stroke, frailty, previous history of falls, depression, Parkinson's disease, and pain increased the risk of falls.

Conclusion

Demographic characteristics, comorbidities, and lifestyle factors can influence the risk of falls and should be taken into consideration.