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Canadian Journal of Public Health = Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique logoLink to Canadian Journal of Public Health = Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique
. 2012 Sep 1;103(5):e332–e337. doi: 10.1007/BF03404436

Consumer Products and Fall-related Injuries in Seniors

Lauren E Griffith 14, Nazmul Sohel 14, Kathryn Walker 14, Ying Jiang 24, Yang Mao 24, Doug Hopkins 24, Parminder S Raina 14,✉
PMCID: PMC6973749  PMID: 23617983

Abstract

Objective

To conduct an environmental scan to identify the scope of literature on consumer products and injuries in seniors and to fill in some of the information gaps by exploring the relationship between assistive devices (AD) and fall-related injuries.

Methods

The environmental scan included primary literature identified in Medline and EMBASE databases and grey literature was identified in Google and consumer product safety sites in the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia.

Methods

Weighted logistic regression was then used to examine the relationship between socio-demographic factors, frailty indicators, and AD use at the time of the fall, and the type of health services utilized and psychological consequences of the fall based on data from the 2008–2009 Canadian Community Health Survey on Healthy Aging.

Results

The majority of the articles on consumer products and injuries reported secondary database sources and did not directly link the consumer product’s influence on a given injury. We found AD use at the time of a fall was associated with hospitalization, worry about re-injury, and limiting one’s activities due to this worry, even after adjustment for socio-demographic variables. When frailty variables were included in the model, however, AD use was no longer statistically significant.

Conclusion

This study provides preliminary information on the relationship between AD use and fall-related outcomes. However, the current data are not sufficient to draw specific conclusions. More detailed questions regarding AD use for the entire population and additional questions regarding the contribution of the AD to the injury will help to provide a richer understanding of this relationship.

Key words: Injuries, consumer product safety, falls, elderly, aging

Footnotes

Acknowledgements: The Canadian Community Health Survey - Healthy Aging survey content was developed by the Health Statistics Division at Statistics Canada in consultation with Health Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), and experts conducting the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA). Consultations included stakeholders from Human Resources and Social Development Canada and provincial and territorial health ministries. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) provided funding for the CLSA; and the CLSA - Mobility Initiative - An Emerging Team in Mobility and Aging, the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), provided infrastructure support for the CLSA. Funding for this study was provided by PHAC.

Conflict of Interest: None to declare.

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