[Falls among the elderly living in a rural community--prevalence and circumstances of falls by season].
The purpose of the study is to assess the prevalence and circumstances of falls by season among the elderly living in a rural community. From 1992 to 1993 four interview surveys on falls were conducted every three months. Out of the total 1,321 subjects aged 65 and over (male: 532, mean age: 73.2 yr, female: 789, mean age: 74.5 yr), 1,317 responded to the survey in summer, 1,306 in autumn, 1,236 in winter and 1,248 in spring. The prevalence of falls (the rate of subjects with falls) were 7.4% in summer, 5.9% in autumn, 6.5% in winter and 6.7% in spring. The seasonal variation was not statistically significant. In each season, there was no significant difference between genders. The prevalence in the older group aged 75 and over is higher than that in younger group aged 65-74 except in spring. As to the circumstances of falls, there were seasonal differences in the distribution of place, footwear and cause of falls. These differences may be due to the climate of the area.
Department of Hygiene and Preventive Medicine, Showa University School of Medicine.
N
N
Niino
S
S
Yasumura
H
H
Haga
H
H
Ueno
M
M
Oshima
Y
Y
Higuchi
D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012424:Rural Population; D012621:Seasons