title: Social support and older adult falls.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Social support has been shown to be associated with various positive health outcomes among older adults but has not been previously examined in relation to falls, which are a serious health concern among older adults.
  
  
  RESULTS
  This study (n = 1000) uses multivariable logistic regression to evaluate the relationship between social contact and perceived availability of social support and falls among older adults. When adjusting for demographic and other covariates neither relationship was significant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study does not find evidence to suggest that social support could be a prevention measure for falls. Future research on this topic should focus on careful definition and precise measurement of the social support construct.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, 722 West 168th St., Room 516, New York, NY, 10032, USA. ld2280@cumc.columbia.edu.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Durbin
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, 722 West 168th St., Room 516, New York, NY, 10032, USA.
authors.forename: Rebekah J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Kharrazi
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1720 2nd Ave. S, Birmingham, AL, 35233, USA.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Graber
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, 722 West 168th St., Room 516, New York, NY, 10032, USA.
authors.forename: Thelma J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Mielenz
keywords: Accidental falls; Aging; Risk factors; Social support