الفهرس 
Epidemiology of falls in The ElderlyOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Older people make up a large and increasing
percentage of the population. As people grow older they
are increasingly at risk of falling and consequent injuries. A
fall may be the first indication of an undetected illness. The
prevention of falls is of major importance because they
cause considerable mortality, morbidity and suffering for
older people and their families, and incurs social costs due
to hospital and nursing home admissions.
This thesis was conducted to determine prevalence
of fall and its common risk factors among elderly Egyptian
males.
It was a cross sectional study conducted on 200
elderly male aged 60 years and older attending the
outpatient clinics at Ain Shams University hospital.
The study showed that the prevalence of falls among
elderly males was 27.5%; the mean age of the studied
populations was 66.3±5.6 years, most of them were
married, illiterate and either smoker or ex-smoker with
average Body Mass Index 30.2±7.2.
Most cases of falls result from a complex interplay of
predisposing (intrinsic) and precipitating (extrinsic) factors
in a person’s environment.
The current study showed that the significant risk
factors associated with falls were increasing age, functional
impairment in ADL and IADL, visual impairment,hypertension, heart failure, peripheral neuropathy,
diabetic foot, impairment of mobility and transfer, use of
anti hypertensive drugs, higher timed up and go test scores
and high risk status by FRAT risk score.
Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that
the independent risk factors of fall that can predict fall in
our study were mobility disorders and visual impairment
that should be screened and managed thoroughly to
reduce falling in elderly.
Comparing Fallers & Non fallers by different fall
assessment tests, current study revealed a significant
association between fallers and non fallers as regard TUG
&FRAT test, and a less significant association as regard TST
test with no association with FRT & SLST test.
The FRAT tool can be used as a screening tool for
falls among community dwelling elderly with high
specificity and sensitivity.
Appropriate assessments can help to identify those
subjects who have an increased risk of falls, the underlying
causes, and, ultimately, reduce the negative impact of falls
in older adults and improve their quality of life.