Citation

Lee K, Davis MA, Marcotte JE, Pressler SJ, Liang J, Gallagher NA, Titler MG. Heart Lung 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

University of Michigan School of Nursing, 400 North Ingalls St., Ann Arbor, 48109-5482, United States.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.hrtlng.2019.12.005

PMID

31932065

Abstract

BACKGROUND: While heart failure (HF) in older adults is associated with fall risk, little is known about this in the U.S.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the independent effect of functional impairments related to HF on falls among community-dwelling older adults in the U.S.

METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted with 17,712 community-dwelling older adults aged 65 and above with (n = 1693) and without HF, using mixed-effects logistic regression to examine the association between HF and falls.

RESULTS: HF patients had 14% greater odds of falling than those without HF. Moreover, HF patients with functional difficulties in mobility, large muscle difficulty, instrumental activities of daily living difficulty, poor vision, and urinary incontinence demonstrated an increased likelihood of falling.

CONCLUSION: Community-dwelling older adults with HF and functional difficulties have a higher fall risk than those without HF, indicating that fall prevention programs should be developed, tested, and implemented for this population.

Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Aging; Falls; Heart failure; Nursing; Older adults