Falls of elderly people living in rural areas: prevalence and associated factors

ABSTRACT Objective: to identify the prevalence and factors associated with falls in the elderly population living in rural areas. Method: this is a cross-sectional study, carried out in 2014, with 820 older adults recorded in the Family Health Strategy (Estratégia Saúde da Família). The association between the reporting of falls in 12 months and their associated factors was verified by the Chi-square and Fischer’s exact tests and by multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results: the majority of the sample was female (56.1%), white (90.2%) and aged 60-69 years (54.9%). The prevalence of falls was 27.9%, and being female, hypertensive and diabetic was associated to falls. Conclusion: it is the responsibility of health professionals to have a closer look at the elderly who have these chronic diseases, especially within the scope of the Family Health Strategy, which works longitudinally with these patients, in addition to improving nursing care aimed at this population.

摘要 研究目的：明确农村居住老年人群跌倒的患病率及其相关影响因素。方法：本研究为横断面研究，于2014年开展，研究对象为纳入家庭健康策略（Family Health Strategy，Estratégia Saúde da Família）登记的820名老年人。采用卡方检验、费希尔精确检验及多因素logistic回归分析，验证了12个月内跌倒报告情况与其相关影响因素之间的关联。结果：研究对象中女性占比56.1%，白人占比90.2%，60~69岁年龄段人群占比54.9%。本次研究的跌倒患病率为27.9%，女性、高血压患者及糖尿病患者与跌倒发生存在显著关联。结论：卫生专业人员应加强对罹患此类慢性病的老年人的关注，尤其在长期随访此类患者的家庭健康策略服务范畴内，同时还需优化针对该人群的护理服务，此乃卫生专业人员应尽之责。