Citation

Trevisan C, Rizzuto D, Ek S, Maggi S, Sergi G, Fratiglioni L, Welmer AK. J. Am. Med. Dir. Assoc. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Aging Research Center, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden; Stockholm Gerontology Research Center, Stockholm, Sweden; Division of Physiotherapy, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Allied Health Professionals, Function Area Occupational Therapy & Physiotherapy, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1016/j.jamda.2019.11.013

PMID

31926799

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Previous studies showed that peak expiratory flow (PEF) is associated with health-related outcomes in advanced age, but the extent to which it may be related to falls risk remains unclear. We aimed to detect the association between PEF and injurious falls in older adults and to explore the role of cognitive and physical deficits in this association.

DESIGN: Prospective study with a 6-year follow-up. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: The study involves 2234 community-dwelling older adults with no history of pulmonary disease.

METHODS: For each study participant, we assessed the PEF at baseline, expressed as standardized residual (SR) percentile and derived from the normalization of residuals between the measured and predicted PEF values (based on individual age, sex, and body height); incident injurious falls over 6 years, from Hospital Discharge Diagnosis; and physical and cognitive functioning at the baseline and at 3- and 6-year follow-ups by evaluating walking speed, balance, chair stand, and Mini-Mental State Examination, respectively.

RESULTS: Over the follow-up, 232 individuals experienced injurious falls. Cox models indicated 7% higher risk of falls per each 10th reduction in PEF SR-percentile. The risk of injurious falls increased by more than twice for those who had PEF SR-percentile <10th as for values of 80th-100th (hazard ratio = 2.31, 95% confidence interval: 1.41-3.76). Physical deficits mediated 63% of the total effect of PEF on falls risk.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Our findings suggest that low PEF is associated with higher risk of injurious falls in older adults, and most of this association is explained by balance or muscular strength deficits.

Copyright © 2019 AMDA – The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

cognitive status; injurious falls; peak expiratory flow; physical function