title: Incidence of falls and fear of falling in Japanese patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
abstract: The objective of this study is to determine the incidence of falls and fear of falling by gender and age in Japanese patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Among the Japanese patients who participated in a single-institute-based prospective observational cohort study of patients with RA, namely the Institute of Rheumatology Rheumatoid Arthritis, 765 men (median age 63 years) and 4,231 women (median age 60 years) with RA responded to questions related to falls. Eight percent of men and 11% of women reported one or more falls during the previous 6 months. At least one fall and multiple falls were significantly more frequent in men (p < 0.05) and in women (p < 0.001) with RA over age 65 and age 75 years, respectively, although there was no significant linear increase in risk with age. Sixteen percent of men and 22% of women reported fear of falling. More men over age 65 tended to report fear of falling than those under age 65 (p < 0.001), although the incidence of women with fear of falling increased with advancing age. Japanese patients with RA over age 65 and age 75 appeared to have a high risk of at least one fall and multiple falls, respectively.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Rheumatology, Tokyo Women's Medical University, 10-22 Kawada-cho, Shinjyuku-ku, Tokyo, 162-0054, Japan.
authors.forename: Kiyotaka
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamagiwa
authors.forename: Setsu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Iijima
authors.forename: Takefumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Furuya
authors.forename: Tetsuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ikai
authors.forename: Eisuke
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: Atsuo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Taniguchi
authors.forename: Shigeki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Momohara
authors.forename: Hisashi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamanaka
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D015897:Comorbidity; D005239:Fear / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult