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Table 2 Health and lifestyle characteristics of the baseline samples by area of residence (suburb) (n = 837)

From: Risk factors for falls in older adults in a South African Urban Community

Characteristic

Gugulethu

Plumstead

Wynberg

P value

n = 283

n = 188

n = 366

Self-rated health status (N (%))

   

<0.001

 Very good, Good

54 (19.1)

140 (74.5)

207 (56.6)

 

 Poor, Very poor

229 (80.9)

48 (25.5)

159 (43.4)

 

Perceived health compared to a year ago (N (%))

   

<0.001

 Better/same

269 (95.1)

170 (90.4)

307 (83.9)

 

 Worse

14 (4.9)

18 (9.6)

59 (16.1)

 

Self-rated mobility (N (%))

   

0.281

 Independent

237 (83.7)

163 (86.7)

298 (81.4)

 

 With difficulty

46 (16.3)

25 (13.3)

68 (18.6)

 

Reported previous fall (Yes)

15 (5.3)

74 (39.4)

132 (36.1)

<0.001

Reported previous recurrent falls (Yes)

1 (0.4)

34 (18.1)

57 (15.6)

<0.001

Self-reported medical conditions(N (%))

    

 Hypertension (Yes)

219 (77.4)

125 (66.5)

227 (62.2)

<0.001

 Arthritis (Yes)

178 (63.1)

121 (64.4)

202 (55.2)

0.046

 Cardiovascular disease (Yes)

87 (30.7)

96 (51.1)

211 (57.7)

<0.001

 Foot problems (Yes)

31 (11.0)

59 (31.4)

127 (34.7)

<0.001

 Diabetes (Yes)

146 (51.6)

37 (19.7)

91 (24.9)

<0.001

 Dizziness, vertigo (Yes)

17 (6.0)

56 (29.8)

90 (24.7)

<0.001

 Chronic lung disease (Yes)

24 (8.5)

26 (13.8)

43 (11.8)

0.174

 Depression (Yes)

22 (7.8)

34 (18.1)

32 (8.7)

0.001

 Stroke (Yes)

12 (4.2)

17 (9.0)

38 (10.4)

0.014

 Poor memory (Yes)

36 (12.7)

4 (2.1)

23 (6.3)

<0.001

 Cancer (Yes)

2 (0.7)

21 (11.2)

22 (6.0)

<0.001

 Parkinson’s disease (Yes)

7 (2.5)

5 (2.70)

11 (3.0)

0.916

Number of comorbidities (median, IQR)

3 (2–4)

4 (2–5)

3(2–5)

<0.001

Total drug intake (median (IQR)

3 (1–4)

5 (3–7)

5 (3–7)

<0.001

Poor urine control (Yes)

41 (14.5)

49 (26.1)

101 (27.6)

0.001

Impaired hearing (Yes)

72 (25.4)

63 (33.5)

113 (30.9)

0.135

Vision (N (%))

    

 Far: poor (Yes)

40 (14.1)

8 (4.3)

26 (7.1)

<0.001

 Near: poor (Yes)

44 (15.6)

5 (2.7)

10 (2.7)

<0.001

Tobacco use

   

<0.001

 Current (Yes)

9 (3.2)

22 (11.7)

69 (18.9)

 

 Previous (Yes)

30 (10.6)

70 (37.2)

99 (27.0)

 

Alcohol consumption

   

<0.001

 Current (Yes)

6 (2.1)

78 (41.5)

34 (9.3)

 

 Previous (Yes)

31 (11.0)

15 (8.0)

38 (10.4)

 

BMI (median, IQR)

30 (27–34)

27 (23–30)

27 (24–30)

<0.001

  1. For dichotomous variables used Yes or No, Unless otherwise stated, numbers are n (%). IQR = interquartile range, SD = Standard deviation. P-value: ANOVA test for means, Kruskal-Wallis test for medians, χ2 test for categorical variables
  2. Cardiovascular disease includes angina, heart failure and peripheral vascular disease, lung disease = chronic obstructive airways disease or asthma
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