TY - JOUR PY - 2021// TI - Association between food insecurity and fall-related injury among adults aged ≥65 years in low- and middle-income countries: the role of mental health conditions JO - Archives of gerontology and geriatrics A1 - Smith, Lee A1 - Shin, Jae Il A1 - López-Sánchez, Guillermo F. A1 - Veronese, Nicola A1 - Soysal, Pinar A1 - Oh, Hans A1 - Grabovac, Igor A1 - Barnett, Yvonne A1 - Jacob, Louis A1 - Koyanagi, Ai SP - 104438 EP - 104438 VL - 96 IS - N2 - PURPOSE: We investigated the association between food insecurity and fall-related injury among older adults from six low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and the extent to which this association is mediated by mental health.

METHODS: Cross-sectional, community-based, nationally representative data from the WHO Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE) were analyzed. Past 12-month food insecurity was assessed with two questions on frequency of eating less and hunger due to lack of food. Fall-related injury referred to those that occurred in the past 12 months. Multivariable logistic regression analysis and mediation analysis were conducted to assess associations.

RESULTS: Data on 14,585 adults aged ≥65 years [mean (SD) age 72.5 (11.5) years; 54.9% females] were analyzed. After adjustment for potential confounders, severe food insecurity (versus no food insecurity) was associated with 1.95 (95%CI = 1.11-3.41) times higher odds for fall-related injury. Moderate food insecurity was not significantly associated with fall-related injury (OR = 1.34; 95%CI = 0.81-2.25). The mediation analysis showed that 37.3%, 21.8%, 17.7%, and 14.0% of the association between severe food insecurity and fall-related injury was explained by anxiety, sleep problems, depression, and cognition, respectively.

CONCLUSION: Severe food insecurity was associated with higher odds for injurious falls among older adults in LMICs, and a large proportion of this association may be explained by mental health complications. Interventions to improve mental health among those who are food insecure and a strong focus on societal and government efforts to reduce food insecurity may contribute to a decrease in injurious falls.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 0167-4943 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.archger.2021.104438 ID - ref1 ER -