INTRODUCTION: Fall is prevalent among older adults globally. Risk of fall and factors associated with fall risk is also understudied and has not been fully addressed in the local and global research. Hence, this study aimed to explore the prevalence of falls and factors associated with risk of falls among low income elderly.
METHODS: A total of 97 eligible community-dwelling elderly at People’s Housing Program flats in Kuala Lumpur were recruited. Face-to-face interview was conducted using PASE-Malay version and Berg Balance Scale questionnaires. Fried Frailty Phenotype, Elderly Cognitive Assessment Questionnaire and Mini Nutritional Assessment Short Form were used to assess the frailty status, cognitive status and risk of malnutrition, respectively.
RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 68.04±5.54 years. Majority of participants were women (73.2%), Malay (88.7%) and pre-frail (73.2%). A total of 44.3% of participants were IADL dependent, 9.3% were cognitively impaired and 29.9% were at risk of malnutrition. The proportion of falls among participants was 7.1% while 14.4% of them were at risk of falls. Factors that were found to be significantly associated with risk of falls were age (r=-0.407, p<0.001), ethnicity (p=0.001), educational level (p=0.003), skeletal muscle percentage (r=0.204, p=0.045), handgrip strength (r=0.394, p<0.001), hearing impairment (p = 0.020), frailty status (r=-0.315, p=0.002) and cognitive status (r=0.264, p=0.009). CONCLUSION: It is critical to focus on assessing the risk of fall while providing treatments to low income elderly periodically. Future fall risk assessment should be part of community elderly health policy. Authors:
Siti Nur'Asyura Adznam, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
Jenny Boon Zean Lea, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
Jenny Hii Ai Na, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia

About the Presenter(s)
Dr Siti Nur'Asyura Adznam is a University Associate Professor/Senior Lecturer at Universiti Putra Malaysia UPM in Malaysia

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