Assessment of risk of fall in elderly people in the urban field practice area of Community Medicine Department, Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh

Authors

  • Siva Kumar Lotheti Department of Community Medicine, Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India
  • Goutham Kankanam Department of Community Medicine, Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India
  • Kuppli Sai Sushma Department of Community Medicine, Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India
  • Orisi Samhitha Department of Community Medicine, Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India
  • B. Devi Madhavi Department of Community Medicine, Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20183976

Keywords:

Elderly people, FRAT, Risk of fall, Fall risk assessment, Psychological score

Abstract

Background: More than 1/3rd of older adults fall each year and 10-20% of falls cause serious injuries. Vast majority of these falls (>99.9%) are unintentional. This research is focused to identify prevalence of the risk of fall among elderly and  associated factors were assessed in the present study. We are going assess the risk of falls and associated factors among elderly.

Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted in urban field practice area of Community Medicine Department, Andhra Medical College among people of age >60 years during November 2017. A sample size of 100 is obtained by taking prevalence of falls among elderly on the last 6 months as 36.8% and absolute precision is 10%. A structured interview schedule has been adopted for the study which was developed by Peninsula Health Falls Prevention Services.

Results: Mean age is 69±7 years. 65% are females. 20% have medium to high risk of fall. 17% have severely impaired cognitive status. 19% have history of fall one or more times in last 3–12 months.

Conclusions: 20% risk of fall may not be neglected as fall in elderly can lead to disability. It is recommended to health care providers to assess the risk of fall among elderly patients seeking their services using fall risk assessment tool (FRAT) and advice accordingly.

Author Biographies

Siva Kumar Lotheti, Department of Community Medicine, Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India

Depatment of Community Medicine, Andhra Medical College,Visakhapatnam.

Assistant Professor

Goutham Kankanam, Department of Community Medicine, Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India

Department of Community Medicine, Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam

Post Graduate

Kuppli Sai Sushma, Department of Community Medicine, Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India

Department Of Community Medicine,Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam

Post Graduate

Orisi Samhitha, Department of Community Medicine, Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India

Undergraduate, Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam

B. Devi Madhavi, Department of Community Medicine, Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India

Department Of Community Medicine, Andha Medical College, Visakhapatnam

Professor & Head Of Depatment

References

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Published

2018-09-24

How to Cite

Lotheti, S. K., Kankanam, G., Sushma, K. S., Samhitha, O., & Madhavi, B. D. (2018). Assessment of risk of fall in elderly people in the urban field practice area of Community Medicine Department, Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. International Journal Of Community Medicine And Public Health, 5(10), 4368–4371. https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20183976

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Original Research Articles