[Falls in older adults: predictors and space distribution]

This work seeks to calculate the prevalence of falls in the last 12 months among the elderly from the community of the city of Uberaba; verify the occurrence of falls in the elderly of the community according to sociodemographic and health characteristics; and identify and group the types of falls among the older individuals in the city of Uberba.

Cross-sectional study carried out with 612 elderly people living in the urban area of Uberaba. Descriptive and bivariate analyzes were performed using the chi-square test (p<0.05). The kernel density estimation was used to estimate the intensity of the events. This project was approved by the Research Ethics Committee through Protocol No. 573.833.

It was found that 24.7% of the elderly had falls in the last 12 months. The highest proportion of the elderly who suffered falls was female (p=0.004); aged 80 years or more (p=0.001); illiterate (p=0.026); who lived alone (p=0.049); without partner (p=0.002); with negative self-perception of health (p<0.001); dependent for BADL (p=0.049) and IALD (p=0.027); with a lower participation in AADL (p=0.003); pre-fragile/fragile (p<0.001); and with low/poor physical performance (p<0.001). The clusters with the most frequently reported falls were in the center-west region of the city, followed by the southeast region.

To know the profile and the factors associated with the occurrence of falls among the elderly allows health professionals to develop actions directed to prevent, monitor and control these factors.