title: Genetic factors and susceptibility to falls in older women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether genetic influences account for individual differences in susceptibility to falls in older women.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective twin cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Research laboratory and residential environment.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ninety-nine monozygotic (MZ) and 114 dizygotic (DZ) female twin pairs aged 63 to 76 from the Finnish Twin Cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  The participants recorded their falls on a calendar for an average+/-standard deviation of 344+/-41 days. Reported falls were verified via telephone interview, and circumstances, causes, and consequences of the fall were asked about.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The total number of falls was 434, of which 188 were injurious; 91 participants had two or more falls. Casewise concordance was 0.61 (95% confidence interval (CI)=0.49-0.72) for MZ twins and 0.49 (95% CI=0.37-0.62) for DZ twins for at least one fall, 0.38 (95% CI=0.23-0.53) for MZ and 0.33 (95% CI=0.17-0.50) for DZ twins for at least one injurious fall, and 0.43 (95% CI=0.26-0.60) for MZ and 0.36 (95% CI=0.17-0.55) for DZ twins for recurrent falls. On average, the proportion of familial influences accounting for the individual differences in susceptibility to at least one fall was 30% and to recurrent falls was 40%; nongenetic familial and nonfamilial factors alone accounted for susceptibility to at least one injurious fall.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In community-dwelling older women, familial factors underlie the risk of falling but not the risk of injurious falls.
authors: Department of Health Sciences, Finnish Center for Interdisciplinary Gerontology, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland. Satu.Pajala@sport.jyu.fi
authors: Satu
authors: S
authors: Pajala
authors: Pertti
authors: P
authors: Era
authors: Markku
authors: M
authors: Koskenvuo
authors: Jaakko
authors: J
authors: Kaprio
authors: Anne
authors: A
authors: Viljanen
authors: Taina
authors: T
authors: Rantanen