Multifactorial assessment of the risk of falls in low bone density older women

Abstract

Introduction: Identifying effective assessment instruments for predicting falls, speci????ically in older women with low bone mineral density (BMD) that are more susceptible to fractures remains a challenge. Objective: To evaluate risk factors for falls at baseline, to identify the falls occurrence over six months of follow-up and to investigate the predictive validity of the Quickscreen Clinical Falls Risk Assessment for predicting multiple falls among low BMD older women. Methods: A methodological study with 110 older women with diagnosis of osteoporosis or osteopenia (70.26 ± 6.24 years). The presence of two or more of the eight risk factors assessed by the QuickScreen characterized the risk of falling (baseline) and monthly phone calls identi????ied the occurrence of falls during the six months of follow-up. Results: The most prevalent falls risk factors were self-reported previous falls, polypharmacy and impairment in shifting weight and lateral instability. Most of the older women (67.3%) had two or more risk factors, 24.5% reported a single fall and 13.6% reported multiple falls over the six months. The QuickScreen (cutoff ≥ 2 risk factors) showed good sensitivity (73.3%) and high negative predictive value (88.89%) for predicting multiple falls among low BMD older women. Conclusions: The results indicated a high frequency of falls among low BMD older women. Additionally, the results highlighted that the QuickScreen instrument was able to predict multiple falls in the six months of follow-up among these older women.