TY - JOUR
T1 - Neighborhood environment and falls among community-dwelling older adults
AU - Nicklett, Emily Joy
AU - Lohman, Matthew C.
AU - Smith, Matthew Lee
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Emily Joy Nicklett was supported by a grant from the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) administered through the Center for Diabetes Translation and Research at Washington University in St. Louis (Grant #P30DK092950; PI: Debra Haire-Joshu). Matthew C. Lohman was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (T32 MH073553). The authors are grateful to Lilly Estenson for her invaluable contributions to preparing this manuscript. The authors would also like to acknowledge the Research Career Development Core (RCDC) at the University of Michigan Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center-and Neil Alexander in particular-for motivating this research.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2017/2/10
Y1 - 2017/2/10
N2 - Background: Falls present a major challenge to active aging, but the relationship between neighborhood factors and falls is poorly understood. This study examined the relationship between fall events and neighborhood factors, including neighborhood social cohesion (sense of belonging, trust, friendliness, and helpfulness) and physical environment (vandalism/graffiti, rubbish, vacant/deserted houses, and perceived safety walking home at night). Methods: Data were analyzed from 9259 participants over four biennial waves (2006-2012) of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a nationally representative sample of adults aged 65 and older in the United States. Results: In models adjusting for demographic and health-related covariates, a one-unit increase in neighborhood social cohesion was associated with 4% lower odds of experiencing a single fall (odds ratio (OR): 0.96, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.93-0.99) and 6% lower odds of experiencing multiple falls (OR: 0.94, 95% CI: 0.90-0.98). A one-unit increase in the physical environment scale was associated with 4% lower odds of experiencing a single fall (OR: 0.96, 95% CI: 0.93-0.99) and with 5% lower odds of experiencing multiple falls (OR: 0.95, 95% CI: 0.91-1.00) in adjusted models. Conclusions: The physical and social neighborhood environment may affect fall risk among community-dwelling older adults. Findings support the ongoing need for evidence-based fall prevention programming in community and clinical settings.
AB - Background: Falls present a major challenge to active aging, but the relationship between neighborhood factors and falls is poorly understood. This study examined the relationship between fall events and neighborhood factors, including neighborhood social cohesion (sense of belonging, trust, friendliness, and helpfulness) and physical environment (vandalism/graffiti, rubbish, vacant/deserted houses, and perceived safety walking home at night). Methods: Data were analyzed from 9259 participants over four biennial waves (2006-2012) of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a nationally representative sample of adults aged 65 and older in the United States. Results: In models adjusting for demographic and health-related covariates, a one-unit increase in neighborhood social cohesion was associated with 4% lower odds of experiencing a single fall (odds ratio (OR): 0.96, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.93-0.99) and 6% lower odds of experiencing multiple falls (OR: 0.94, 95% CI: 0.90-0.98). A one-unit increase in the physical environment scale was associated with 4% lower odds of experiencing a single fall (OR: 0.96, 95% CI: 0.93-0.99) and with 5% lower odds of experiencing multiple falls (OR: 0.95, 95% CI: 0.91-1.00) in adjusted models. Conclusions: The physical and social neighborhood environment may affect fall risk among community-dwelling older adults. Findings support the ongoing need for evidence-based fall prevention programming in community and clinical settings.
KW - Fall events
KW - Neighborhood factors
KW - Older adults
KW - Physical disorder
KW - Social cohesion
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U2 - 10.3390/ijerph14020175
DO - 10.3390/ijerph14020175
M3 - Article
C2 - 28208598
AN - SCOPUS:85012294423
VL - 14
JO - International journal of environmental research and public health
JF - International journal of environmental research and public health
SN - 1661-7827
IS - 2
M1 - 175
ER -