Falls and EQ-5D rated quality of life in community-dwelling seniors with concurrent chronic diseases: a cross-sectional study

Table 1 Characteristics of the total sample and by fall category (no fall vs. one fall vs. ≥ two falls) and group differences across the fall categories

Variable	Total		Sample stratified by fall history
			No fall		One fall		≥ two falls		χ²-test
	N = 1,792		N = 1,410		N = 265		N = 117
	n	%	n	%*	n	%*	n	%*	p
Female sex	949	53.0	702	49.8	176	66.4	71	60.7	< 0.001
Age ≥ 80 years	602	33.6	444	31.5	102	38.5	56	47.9	< 0.001
Low education	1,059	59.1	840	59.6	156	58.9	63	53.9	n.s.
Hypertension	1,160	64.7	895	63.5	180	67.9	85	72.7	n.s.
Diabetes	445	24.8	345	24.5	65	24.5	35	29.9	n.s.
CAD	457	25.5	358	25.4	65	24.5	34	29.1	n.s.
CHF	338	18.9	257	18.2	51	19.3	30	25.6	n.s.
PAD	214	11.9	166	11.8	30	11.3	18	15.4	n.s.
Stroke history	140	7.8	110	7.8	16	6.0	14	12.0	n.s.
COPD/emphysema	218	12.2	160	11.4	33	12.5	25	21.4	< 0.05
Arthritis	628	35.0	481	34.1	96	36.2	51	43.6	n.s.
Osteoporosis/chronic back pain/spinal disease	698	39.0	521	37.0	117	44.2	60	51.3	< 0.05
Parkinson’s disease	16	0.9	13	0.9	1	0.4	2	1.7	n.s.
Hearing loss/visual impairment	1,017	56.8	774	54.9	157	59.3	86	73.5	< 0.001
Depressive mood (GDS-15 ≥ 6)	142	7.9	93	6.6	26	9.8	23	19.7	< 0.001
Pain within past three months	950	53.0	731	51.8	146	55.1	73	62.4	n.s.
Sporting activities >1 h / week	1,036	57.8	821	58.2	145	54.7	70	59.8	n.s.
Walking aid use	299	16.7	192	13.6	73	27.6	34	29.1	< 0.001
Physician contact within the past three months > 3	1,216	67.9	945	67.0	184	69.4	87	74.4	n.s.
Drugs to take regularly ≥ 6	909	50.7	708	50.2	136	51.3	65	55.6	n.s.
Severe fear of falling	143	8.0	85	6.0	39	14.7	19	16.2	< 0.001

*The given percentages refer to the respective subsample.
CAD: coronary artery disease; CHF: chronic heart failure; PAD: peripheral artery disease; COPD: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; GDS: Geriatric Depression Scale; n. s.: not significant (i.e. p > 0.05).

ISSN: 1477-7525