Association between Prevention from Going Out and Incidence of Falls among Community-Dwelling Older Adults during COVID-19 Pandemic

Saori Anezaki (), Mariko Sakka and Noriko Yamamoto-Mitani
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Saori Anezaki: Department of Gerontological Home Care and Long-Term Care Nursing, Division of Health Sciences and Nursing, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo City, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
Mariko Sakka: The Faculty of Medicine, The University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba City 305-8575, Japan
Noriko Yamamoto-Mitani: Department of Gerontological Home Care and Long-Term Care Nursing, Division of Health Sciences and Nursing, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo City, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 3, 1-16

Abstract: To prevent falls, community-dwelling older adults must maintain regular physical activities. This study aimed to explore the association between the prevention from going out and the incidence of falls among community-dwelling older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted a prospective cohort study that consisted of 381 individuals aged 65 years or older, living in a local community in Japan, and ranging from being independent to being physically and cognitively frail. The finding revealed that among those who had been going out five or more times weekly pre-pandemic, the prevention from going out at the time of the first state of emergency (SOE) (AOR = 6.84; 95%CI = 1.51–31.02), having history of falls (AOR = 7.35; 95%CI = 1.81–29.84), participating in group gatherings (AOR = 6.09; 95%CI = 1.48–25.12), living with spouses (AOR = 0.08; 95%CI = 0.02–0.40), and living with other than spouse (AOR = 0.15; 95%CI = 0.03–0.73) were associated with the incidence of falls. The study highlights the importance of providing regular opportunities to go out to community-dwelling older adults in order to prevent falls.

Keywords: COVID-19; community-dwelling older adults; incidence of falls; frequency of going out (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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