Prevalence and risk factors of falls among community-dwelling older people: results from three consecutive waves of the national health interview survey in Taiwan

Tsai, Yih-Jian; Yang, Ping-Yen; Yang, Yi-Ching; Lin, Mau-Roung; Wang, Ying-Wei

doi:10.1186/s12877-020-01922-z

Table 1 Characteristics of study subjects by number of participants and prevalence of falls during survey years

From: Prevalence and risk factors of falls among community-dwelling older people: results from three consecutive waves of the national health interview survey in Taiwan

Characteristics	2005				2009				2013
	No. of participants		Prevalence of falls and p-value		No. of participants		Prevalence of falls and p-value		No. of participants		Prevalence of falls and p-value
	N = 2722	%	n	%	N = 2900	%	n	%	N = 3200	%	n	%
Total	2722	100.0	579	21.3	2900	100.0	565	17.5	3200	100.0	528	16.5
Mean age (±SD, year)	75.1	±6.0			75.6	±6.3			76.4	±6.5
Age				0.002				0.017				0.004
65–69	868	31.9	147	16.9	877	30.2	131	14.0	852	26.6	110	12.1
70–74	743	27.3	161	20.9	726	25.0	141	18.5	866	27.1	135	16.2
75–79	619	22.7	141	23.2	653	22.5	131	16.4	654	20.4	115	17.9
80–84	329	12.1	88	28.1	388	13.4	96	23.0	503	15.7	99	18.7
85+	163	6.0	42	26.1	256	8.8	66	21.3	325	10.2	69	24.3
Sex				< 0.001				< 0.001				0.224
Male	1346	49.4	221	16.5	1252	43.2	198	14.1	1523	47.6	227	15.3
Female	1376	50.6	358	26.2	1648	56.8	367	20.6	1677	52.4	301	17.5
ADL difficulty				< 0.001				< 0.001				< 0.001
None	2324	85.4	419	18.1	2382	82.2	399	15.2	2658	83.1	379	13.8
1 task	74	2.7	33	45.9	109	3.8	33	29.0	112	3.5	38	44.5
≥ 2 tasks	322	11.8	127	39.4	406	14.0	133	28.4	427	13.4	111	27.2
IADL difficulty				< 0.001				< 0.001				< 0.001
None	1574	58.1	232	15.0	2275	79.4	371	14.8	1943	61.5	244	11.9
1 task	361	13.3	67	19.0	105	3.7	28	25.1	349	11.0	57	16.0
≥ 2 tasks	775	28.6	278	35.7	486	17.0	161	29.1	868	27.5	216	27.5
Use of sleeping pills use				0.005				0.022				0.009
No	2422	89.1	496	20.4	2521	87.4	468	16.7	2715	85.1	422	15.4
Yes	297	10.9	83	28.6	363	12.6	94	22.9	477	14.9	106	22.3
Vision				< 0.001				0.002				< 0.001
Clear	772	32.1	129	17.4	815	32.0	109	12.8	974	34.2	109	11.1
Average	1020	42.4	184	17.7	1097	43.1	206	17.0	1296	45.5	189	14.3
Unclear	615	25.6	166	28.1	635	24.9	159	22.2	579	20.3	146	27.7
Frequency of exercise				0.018				0.001				< 0.001
None	1246	45.8	298	24.2	1370	50.0	311	21.2	1524	50.4	301	20.3
Irregular	167	6.1	34	19.3	138	5.0	17	13.0	107	3.5	20	13.4
Regular	1306	48.0	247	19.1	1233	45.0	196	13.8	1394	46.1	170	12.6
Comorbidities				< 0.001				0.051				0.022
0	879	38.5	116	12.2	942	33.5	153	14.2	884	28.6	104	12.4
1	690	30.2	131	19.2	957	34.0	185	17.6	995	32.2	175	16.4
≥ 2	712	31.2	187	28.5	916	32.5	202	19.6	1207	39.1	218	18.5
Urinary incontinence				< 0.001				0.002				< 0.001
No	2066	76.1	384	18.8	2603	90.2	485	16.5	2544	79.9	367	14.0
Yes	649	23.9	194	29.6	284	9.8	77	26.0	640	20.1	156	25.5
Depressive symptoms				< 0.001				< 0.001				< 0.001
No	1715	71.4	282	16.3	1999	76.4	297	13.6	2229	79.6	282	12.5
Yes	686	28.6	198	30.0	617	23.6	193	27.7	570	20.4	139	24.9

Note: p-value < 0.05 using the chi-square test indicates a statistically significant fall risk across each explanatory variable. The prevalence of falls was estimated by weighing according to sampling probability proportional to the population size. SD standard deviation

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