%0 Journal Article
%T Falls and fear of falling predict future falls and related injuries in ambulatory people with spinal cord injury: a longitudinal observational study
%J Journal of physiotherapy
%D 2017
%A Jørgensen, Vivien
%A Butler Forslund, Emelie
%A Opheim, Arve
%A Franzén, Erika
%A Wahman, Kerstin
%A Hultling, Claes
%A Seiger, Åke
%A Ståhle, Agneta
%A Stanghelle, Johan K.
%A Skavberg Roaldsen, Kirsti
%V 63
%N 2
%P 108-113
%X QUESTION: What is the 1-year incidence of falls and injurious falls in a representative cohort of community-dwelling ambulatory people with chronic spinal cord injury? What are the predictors of recurrent falls (more than two/year) and injurious falls in this population? DESIGN: One-year longitudinal observational multi-centre study. PARTICIPANTS: A representative sample of 68 (of 73 included) community-dwelling ambulatory people with traumatic spinal cord injury attending regular follow-up programs at rehabilitation centres. OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary outcome measures were incidence and predictors of recurrent falls (more than two/year) and injurious falls reported every 2 weeks for 1year. <br><br>RESULTS: A total of 48% of participants reported recurrent falls. Of the 272 reported falls, 41% were injurious. Serious injuries were experienced by 4% of participants, all of whom were women. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that recurrent falls in the previous year (OR 111, 95% CI 8.6 to 1425), fear of falling (OR 6.1, 95% CI 1.43 to 26) and longer time taken to walk 10m (OR 1.3, 95% CI 1.0 to 1.7) were predictors of recurrent falls. Fear of falling (OR 4.3, 95% CI 1.3 to 14) and recurrent falls in the previous year (OR 4.2, 95% CI 1.2 to 14) were predictors of injurious falls. <br><br>CONCLUSION: Ambulatory people with a spinal cord injury have a high risk of falling and of fall-related injuries. Fall history, fear of falling and walking speed could predict recurrent falls and injurious falls. Further studies with larger samples are needed to validate these findings. [Jørgensen V, Butler Forslund E, Opheim A, Franzén E, Wahman K, Hultling C, Seiger Å, Ståhle A, Stanghelle JK, Skavberg Roaldsen K (2017) Falls and fear of falling predict future falls and related injuries in ambulatory people with spinal cord injury: a longitudinal observational study. Journal of PhysiotherapyXX: XX-XX].<br><br>Copyright © 2017 Australian Physiotherapy Association. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
%G en
%I Australian Physiotherapy Association
%@ 1836-9553
%U http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jphys.2016.11.010