Physical and Psychological Factors Affecting Falls in Older Patients with Arthritis

As the population ages, falls are becoming one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality. Joint disease (either osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis) is a well-known predictor of falls, and these medical conditions increase in accordance with the aging population. This study aimed to describe individual, physical, and psychological characteristics between older adults with and without a fall history. Further, we aimed to identify statistically significant physical or psychological factors associated with falls by controlling individual variables. We analyzed data from the 2014 Survey of Living Conditions and Welfare Needs of Korean Older Adults. Adults aged 65 years or over with doctor-diagnosed joint disease were eligible. A total of 2707 women and 784 men (n = 3491) were enrolled. Of these, 1174 patients suffered a fall within a year (average number of falls = 2.4). We adopted individual variable-adjusted models and found that limited activities of daily living (odds ratio (OR) 1.4, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.04-1.87), fear of falling (OR 7.18, 95% CI 4.26-12.09), and depression (OR 1.28, 95% CI 1.09-1.50) significantly increased fall risks on logistic regression analysis. Our findings suggest that physical and psychological factors, especially the fear of falling, need to be addressed to prevent falls in elderly patients with arthritis.