FALL SYNDROME AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS IN ELDERLY INDIGENOUS ADULTS OF NARIÑO, COLOMBIA

Abstract

Objective: To determine the factors associated with the fall syndrome in a group of indigenous older adults.
Materials and Methods: Cross-sectional descriptive study carried out with 518 indigenous people over 60
years of age that estimated the prevalence of the fall syndrome during the year 2019. Research instruments
included demographic interview and medical history, Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) to assess nutritional status, Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and RUDAS to determine cognitive performance; depressive symptomatology was assessed with the Geriatric Depression Scale by Yesavage; functional level was assessed using Instrumental Activities of Daily Living scale (IADL). Multivariate logistic regression models were used
to examine the association between sociodemographic variables and the presence of morbidities. Betweenindividual risk profiles were set up to estimate the probability of falling, using latent class analysis. Results: 35.9% of participants had at least suffered one fall. Men (OR 0.55 95% CI 0.38-0.80), people with high blood pressure (OR 3.4 95% CI 1.4-8.2), coronary heart disease (OR 2.5 95% CI 1.3 -5.0), arthritis or osteoarthritis
(OR 1.5 95% CI 1.0-2.0), people with memory complaints (OR 1.6 95% CI 1.1-2.5) and functional dependency (OR 1.5 95% CI 1.0-2.2), showed an association with this syndrome. The risk profile showed that subjects with a greater number of comorbidities were more likely to suffer a fall (0.163). Conclusions: The prevalence of the falls syndrome is similar to that reported in previous studies. Comorbidities associated with old age showed a relationship with a higher risk of falls. A directly proportional relationship was observed between the number of comorbidities and the increased risk of falls.