[Environmental hazards for falls in elders in low income housing]

About 35% of elders living at home fall each year. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the environmental hazards associated with falls in 58 low income housings for elders and to determine the contribution of environmental factors to these falls.

Participants were interviewed to document their health problems, their knowledge concerning the Issue of falls, and their history of falls during the last year. Environmental hazards were identified and evaluated with a standardised checklist. The levels of hazards (percentage of factors identified which represent a hazard) were measured for the different sectors and for the entire dwelling and communal spaces. The hazards were also evaluated according to four main variables (structure of the building, characteristics of the floor surface, environmental obstacles, risk-taking behaviour).

A total of 172 participants were recruited for the study. For dwellings and communal spaces, the hazards were respectively higher in bathrooms (mean=27.0%; p<0.05) and interior stairs (mean=22.5%; p<0.05). For the communal spaces of buildings of less than 20 Years, the global hazard was higher in the smaller buildings (three stories, mean=12.6%; p<0.001). For dwellings of the larger buildings, the global hazard was higher for younger buildings (<20 years, mean=16.6%; >or=20 years, mean=13.5%; p<0.001). Among the variables documented, risk-taking behaviour was the more frequent factor for the dwellings (mean=32.0%; p<0.05) as for the communal spaces (mean=42.5%; p<0.05). Finally, only 34% of the participants mentioned receiving information concerning the falls among elders. Among the 27 falls documented, an environmental factor was identified in 55% of the cases.

The study helped to document the presence of environmental factors which could be a hazard for falls in elders' housing and to suggest preventive and remedial actions.