TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2020//
TI  - Physical activity and falls among a national cohort of older veterans
JO  - Journal of applied gerontology
A1  - Marciniak, Dan
A1  - Alexander, Neil B.
A1  - Hoffman, Geoffrey J.
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - The more than 20 million U.S. veterans have a history of physical activity engagement but face increasing disability as they age. Falls are common among older adults, but there is little evidence on veterans' fall risk. We conducted a retrospective cohort study using 48,643 observations from 14,831 older (≥65 years) Americans from the 2006-2014 waves of the Health and Retirement Study. Veterans reported more noninjurious falls (26.6% vs. 24.0%, <i>p</i> <.002), but fewer fall-related injuries (8.9% vs. 12.3%, <i>p</i> <.001) than nonveterans. In adjusted analyses, for each 5-year increase in age, the odds of a noninjurious fall were greater for veterans (odds ratio [OR] = 1.05, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [1.01, 1.10]) and, among those with regular physical activity, the odds were lower for veterans compared with nonveterans (OR = 0.89; 95% CI = [0.81, 0.99]). For veterans, physical activity engagement may prove a particularly effective mechanism for reducing the aging-related risks associated with falls and fall injuries.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0733-4648
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0733464820915807
ID  - ref1
ER  -