TY - JOUR
T1 - Cross-sectional analysis of ethnic differences in fall prevalence in urban dwellers aged 55 years and over in the Malaysian Elders Longitudinal Research study
AU - Alex, Deepa
AU - Khor, Hui Min
AU - Chin, Ai Vyrn
AU - Hairi, Noran Naqiah
AU - Othman, Sajaratulnisah
AU - Khoo, Selina Phaik Kin
AU - Bahyah Kamaruzzaman, Shahrul
AU - Tan, Maw Pin
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding This study was funded by a Ministry of Higher Education High Impact Research Grant (UM.C/625/1/HIR/MOHE/ASH/02). The authors in this study are also recipients of a University of Malaya Grand Challenge Fund (GC002-14HTM). Competing interests None declared. Patient consent Obtained.
Publisher Copyright:
© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2018. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
Copyright:
Copyright 2018 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2018/9
Y1 - 2018/9
N2 - Objectives Falls represent major health issues within the older population. In low/middle-income Asian countries, falls in older adults remain an area which has yet to be studied in detail. Using data from the Malaysian Elders Longitudinal Research (MELoR), we have estimated the prevalence of falls among older persons in an urban population, and performed ethnic comparisons in the prevalence of falls. Design Cross-sectional analysis was carried out using the first wave data from MELoR which is a longitudinal study. Setting Urban community dwellers in a middle-income South East Asian country. Participants 1565 participants aged ≥55 years were selected by simple random sampling from the electoral rolls of three parliamentary constituencies. Outcome measures Consenting participants from the MELoR study were asked the question € Have you fallen down in the past 12 months?' during their computer-assisted home-based interviews. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to compare the prevalence of falls among various ethnic groups. Results The overall estimated prevalence of falls for individuals aged 55 years and over adjusted to the population of Kuala Lumpur was 18.9%. The estimated prevalence of falls for the three ethnic populations of Malays, Chinese and Indian aged 55 years and over was 16.2%, 19.4% and 23.8%, respectively. Following adjustment for ethnic discrepancies in age, gender, marital status and education attainment, the Indian ethnicity remained an independent predictor of falls in our population (relative risk=1.45, 95% CI 1.08 to 1.85). Conclusion The prevalence of falls in this study is comparable to other previous Asian studies, but appears lower than Western studies. The predisposition of the Indian ethnic group to falls has not been previously reported. Further studies may be needed to elucidate the causes for the ethnic differences in fall prevalence.
AB - Objectives Falls represent major health issues within the older population. In low/middle-income Asian countries, falls in older adults remain an area which has yet to be studied in detail. Using data from the Malaysian Elders Longitudinal Research (MELoR), we have estimated the prevalence of falls among older persons in an urban population, and performed ethnic comparisons in the prevalence of falls. Design Cross-sectional analysis was carried out using the first wave data from MELoR which is a longitudinal study. Setting Urban community dwellers in a middle-income South East Asian country. Participants 1565 participants aged ≥55 years were selected by simple random sampling from the electoral rolls of three parliamentary constituencies. Outcome measures Consenting participants from the MELoR study were asked the question € Have you fallen down in the past 12 months?' during their computer-assisted home-based interviews. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to compare the prevalence of falls among various ethnic groups. Results The overall estimated prevalence of falls for individuals aged 55 years and over adjusted to the population of Kuala Lumpur was 18.9%. The estimated prevalence of falls for the three ethnic populations of Malays, Chinese and Indian aged 55 years and over was 16.2%, 19.4% and 23.8%, respectively. Following adjustment for ethnic discrepancies in age, gender, marital status and education attainment, the Indian ethnicity remained an independent predictor of falls in our population (relative risk=1.45, 95% CI 1.08 to 1.85). Conclusion The prevalence of falls in this study is comparable to other previous Asian studies, but appears lower than Western studies. The predisposition of the Indian ethnic group to falls has not been previously reported. Further studies may be needed to elucidate the causes for the ethnic differences in fall prevalence.
KW - elderly
KW - ethnic differences
KW - falls
KW - prevalence
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85050464974&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1136/bmjopen-2017-019579
DO - 10.1136/bmjopen-2017-019579
M3 - Article
C2 - 30018093
AN - SCOPUS:85050464974
VL - 8
JO - BMJ Open
JF - BMJ Open
SN - 2044-6055
IS - 7
M1 - e019579
ER -