Association Between History of Abuse and Falling in Older Adults.

OBJECTIVES: To explore the association between history of several types of abuse and falling.

DESIGN: Cross-sectional population-based study.

SETTING: Data from the Salud, Bienestar y Envejecimiento (Health, Well-being, and Aging) Bogotá Study.

PARTICIPANTS: Community-dwelling adults aged 60 and older living in Bogotá, Colombia (n=2,000).

MEASUREMENTS: Falling was defined as the number of times a person had fallen during the previous 12 months. History of abuse was assessed according to self-report. Logistic regression analyses were used to assess the association between elder abuse and falling, adjusting for potential confounders.

RESULTS: Multivariate data analyses showed significant higher odds of any falls (≥1 vs 0) for past emotional (odds ratio (OR)=1.53, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.23-1.90), physical (OR=1.98, 95% CI=1.57-2.51), or sexual (OR=3.08, 95% CI=1.78-5.32) abuse. Similarly, the odds of recurrent falls (≥2 vs 0-1) were significantly higher with each type of abuse. In addition, the odds of any falls and recurrent falls were significant higher in participants with polyvictimization (≥2 types of abuse) than in those with no history of abuse or 1 type of abuse.

CONCLUSION: History of abuse (emotional, physical, or sexual) was strongly associated with falling in older adults living in Bogota. Further research is needed to confirm these findings and further delineate the independent effects of elder abuse on fall risk.