ABSTRACT

Few studies have examined the neighborhood features related to falls in the older population in low-and-middle-income countries, including Brazil. This study aimed to evaluate if perceived neighborhood features are related to falls among older Brazilian adults living in a large urban area. This cross-sectional study was conducted using data from 834 participants (≥60 years) from a multistage household survey in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The association between fall history in the previous year and perceived neighborhood features (quality of services, physical and social disorder, and safety) was examined using multilevel logistic regression. The fall prevalence was 13.6%. Older adults living in neighborhoods with a higher physical disorder were more likely to report fall in the previous year, even after controlling for demographic, clinical and social variables (OR = 2.59; 95% CI = 1.14–5.87). The other neighborhood features investigated were not associated with a fall history. Our findings suggest that improving the physical environment represents an important strategy to prevent falls in the Brazilian urban older population.

摘要

很少有研究检查与包括巴西在内的中低收入国家老年人口跌倒相关的邻里特征。本研究旨在评估感知的邻里特征是否与居住在大城市地区的巴西老年人的跌倒有关。这项横断面研究使用来自巴西贝洛奥里藏特多阶段家庭调查的 834 名参与者（≥60 岁）的数据进行。使用多级逻辑回归检查了上一年的跌倒史与感知的邻里特征（服务质量、身体和社会障碍以及安全）之间的关联。跌倒患病率为 13.6%。即使在控制了人口、临床和社会变量（OR = 2.59；95% CI = 1.14–5.87）。调查的其他邻里特征与跌倒历史无关。我们的研究结果表明，改善物质环境是预防巴西城市老年人口跌倒的重要策略。