Falls in nonagenarians after 1-year of follow-up: the NonaSantfeliu study

An increase in the rate of falls may be an indicator of frailty. This study included a 12-month follow-up investigation into the rate of falls, in people over 89 years, living in an urban community and analyzed the differences between inhabitants with falls and those without falls. The study was conducted within the framework of the NonaSantfeliu study and 140 nonagenarians participated. Sociodemograhic data, Barthel index (BI), activities of daily living (ADL), Spanish version (MEC) of the mini mental state examination (MMSE), the mini nutritional assessment (MNA) questionnaire, near visual acuity by Snellen test and auditory acuity with the Whisper test were evaluated. The fall rate was 47.1%. The 1-year incidence of falls was 26.4%. The incidence of recurrent falls (two or more falls per year) was 10% (n=14). The prevalence of previous falls within the year preceding the study was 45.7%, 64 of 140 nonagenarians fell and 17 (26.5%) of them fell again during the follow-up. Seventy-six out of 140 (54.3%) nonagenarians had not fallen during the year prior to the study and during the year of follow-up, 20 (26.3%) of them had a new fall. In conclusion, the rate of falls among nonagenarians is high. These results emphasize the need to increase the awareness, to provide recommendations and to incorporate strategies to prevent falls.