Table 2. Falls: number, duration of history, sub-types, psychological impact and impact on health and social care services - reported for those who had fallen in the previous 12 months, by type of residence.
| Standard housing | Sheltered housing | Care home | p value | Odds ratio (95% CI)* sheltered: standard housing | Odds ratio (95% CI)* care home: standard housing | |
| Number of falls in previous 12 months, median (interquartile range (IQR)) | 1 (1–2) | 1 (1–2) | 2 (1–3.5) | 0.029† | ||
| Duration of falls history (months), median (IQR) | 12 (6–36) | 12 (6–36) | 24 (12–36) | 0.231† | ||
| Type of falls in previous 12 months, %(n) ‡ | 0.915§ | |||||
| Simple trip/slip | 78.7 (185) | 76.7 (33) | 82.1 (23) | |||
| Unexplained falls | 13.6 (32) | 16.3 (7) | 7.1 (2) | |||
| Simple trip/slip and unexplained falls | 3.8 (9) | 4.7 (2) | 7.1 (2) | |||
| Falls but no slip/trip or unexplained falls | 3.8 (9) | 2.3 (1) | 3.6 (1) | |||
| Psychological impact of falls, %(n) ‡ | ||||||
| Worry about falling | 41.8 (99) | 44.2 (19) | 40.0 (10) | 0.937§ | ||
| Loss of confidence | 39.5 (94) | 44.2 (19) | 37.5 (9) | 0.818§ | ||
| Going out less often | 24.8 (59) | 38.1 (16) | 16.0 (4) | 0.096§ | ||
| Impact of falls on health and social services | ||||||
| Fracture due to fall in previous 12 months, %(n)‡ | 9.7 (23) | 4.7 (2) | 25.0 (8) | 0.012§ | 0.44 (0.10–1.92) | 3.04 (1.22–7.57) |
| Number of falls resulting in fracture in previous 12months, median (IQR) | 1 (1–1) | 1 (1–1) | 1.5 (1–2) | 0.082† | ||
| Accident and emergency' attendance due to fall in previous 12 months, %(n)‡ | 29.0 (69) | 26.2 (11) | 43.8 (14) | 0.194§ | ||
| Number of 'accident and emergency' attendances due to fall in previous 12 months, median (IQR) | 1 (1–1) | 1 (1–1) | 1 (1–2) | 0.036† | ||
| Overnight hospital admission due to fall in previous 12 months, %(n)‡ | 10.9 (26) | 11.9 (5) | 28.1 (9) | 0.023§ | 1.11 (0.40–3.09) | 3.21 (1.34–7.69) |
| Number of hospital admissions due to fall in previous 12 months, median (IQR) | 1 (1–1) | 1 (1–2.5) | 1 (1–1) | 0.571† | ||
| Contact with GP to discuss falls (ever), %(n)‡ | 36.0 (85) | 45.2 (19) | 35.5 (11) | 0.511§ | ||
| Contact with falls specialist (ever), %(n)‡ | 13.1 (31) | 7.1 (3) | 16.7 (5) | 0.440§ | ||
| Increase in amount of care received due to fall, %(n)‡ | 5.6 (13) | 14.3 (6) | 37.0 (10) | <0.001§ | 2.71 (0.97–7.62) | 9.83 (3.75–25.74) |
*
Odds ratio calculated only where Chi-square p-value <0.05. CI- confidence interval.
†
Kruskal-Wallis test for no difference by housing status.
‡
Denominator is the number of participants reporting fall in previous 12 months with valid data; denominators vary due to missing values.
§
Chi-square test for no difference by housing status.