The influence of the multifactorial falls prevention programme on mortality

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Public Health
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Multifactorial falls prevention programmes (MFFPs) are established interventions to reduce falls and injuries in older adults.
• The impact of MFFPs on patient mortality remains an area requiring further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the mortality rates of patients participating in MFFPs with age-, sex-, and residence-matched population-based controls.
• To investigate specific causes of mortality, including accidents and dementia, in MFFP participants versus controls.

Main Methods:

• A retrospective, register-based controlled cohort study was conducted in Finland.
• The study included 527 home-dwelling MFFP patients and 1581 matched population-based controls.

Main Results:

• Overall mortality was slightly lower in the MFFP group (40.4%) compared to controls (39.1%), with a hazard ratio of 0.82 (p=0.041).
• MFFP patients exhibited a higher risk of accidental death but a lower risk of dementia-related death.
• Participants aged 72 years and older in the MFFP group showed a lower mortality rate than their matched controls.

Conclusions:

• MFFPs may be associated with reduced all-cause mortality, especially in individuals aged 72 and older.
• The study did not find evidence that MFFPs reduce injury-related mortality.
• Limitations include the study setting and control group selection, necessitating further research, ideally randomized controlled trials, to confirm MFFP effectiveness on mortality.