The Association Between Falls and Physical and Psychological Conditions in Physically Disabled Elderly People: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Abstract Background Falling in physically disabled people is a worldwide social issue and associated with declined physical and psychological health. This study aimed to clarify the physical and psychological conditions in physically disabled people and to explore whether those conditions are the risk factors of falls. Methods One hundred and forty-six physically disabled people were recruited (age 64.2 ± 5.7, ranging from 43 to 77). Their demographic information, psychological status, musculoskeletal conditions, and history of falls in the past year were collected, and mobility was evaluated. A logistic regression analysis was used to clarify the risk factors of falls with the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve exploring the effectiveness of the regression model on fall diagnosis via area under the curve (AUC). A subgroup analysis was done between the disabled participants with and without poliomyelitis (polio). Results The cause of disability (polio or no-polio), gender, disability grade, and functional gait assessment were significantly associated with falls (all p < 0.05, Nagelkerke R2 = 0.320), and ROC curve indicated that AUC of this model was 0.805 (p < 0.001, 95% CI 0.735–0.876, Youden Index = 0.502). The subgroup analysis showed that the polio group (75 of the 146 participants) had a longer history of disability (t = 12.360, p < 0.001) than the no-polio disabled group while there were no significant differences in the other demographic information (all p > 0.05). The proportion of moderate anxiety in the no-polio participants was significantly higher than that in the polio group (p < 0.001) but the polio group had more musculoskeletal conditions. In the mobility test, the polio participants walked slower in the timed-up-and-go test (t = 2.050, p = 0.042) and had a higher rate of recurrent falls (χ2 = 14.916, p < 0.001) than the no-polio disabled group. Conclusions The disabled people with a high risk of falling can be identified through a 10-minute screening (cause of disability, gender, disability grade, and gait stability testing). The physical conditions of the polio disabled people were relatively more affected.