The association between the risk of falls and characteristics of geriatric osteoporotic patients

Objectives: To assess the association between the risk of falls and characteristics of geriatric osteoporotic patients at the National Geriatric Hospital. Subjects and methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study on 141 osteoporotic patients treated at the National Geriatric Hospital from August to October 2022. Results: Based on the FRI-21 questionnaire, more than half of patients (50,4%) had a high risk of falls, and 49.6% of those had a low risk of falls. The results showed that patients with impairment in activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) had a higher risk of falls than normal ones (p < 0.05). It also revealed the statistically significant difference between depression, the number of medications, and the risk of falls in older osteoporosis patients (p < 0.05). However, nutritional status, back pain, and level of pain had no statistically significant association with the risk of falls (p > 0.05). The use of multivariable regression showed factors associated with the risk of falls in older patients with osteoporosis such as heart failure (OR = 0.901. 95% CI: 0.835 - 0.973, p < 0.01), ADL and IADLs (OR = 4.510. p < 0.01), depression (OR = 3,537, p < 0.01), and the number of medications (OR = 2.931, p < 0.01). Conclusion: The risk of falls in older patients with osteoporosis following FRI-21 was 50.4%. Our study showed that the associated factors of the risk of falls in older patients with osteoporosis were heart failure, ADL and IADLs, depression, and the number of medications. Therefore, measures should be applied to prevent falls in these patients.