Prevalence of Falls and Its Characteristics among Malaysian Older Adults: A Review
- Author:
MUHAMMAD IQBAL S
;
BAHMAN J
;
ASLINDA CM
- Publication Type:Review
- Keywords:
characteristics;
falls, injury;
Malaysia;
older adults;
prevalence
- From:Medicine and Health
2020;15(1):18-33
- CountryMalaysia
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Falls are major public health issues which highly associated with older adults
worldwide. Falls can cause a negative debilitating effect on the individual and
may lead to fatal injury in certain cases. Current studies on falls characteristics are
limited in Malaysia. The aim of this study was to pool the current studies conducted
in Malaysia regarding the fall and its characteristics. Articles were identified by
using the following electronic databases; EBSCOhost, ClinicalKey, ScienceDirect,
Wiley Online Library, SpringerLink and Google Scholar. Article identification was
limited to English language which were published between 2013 to 2019. This
study looked into older adults aged 60 years old and above; conducted either in
a residential, community-dwelling or medical institute. A total of nine articles was
identified and investigated. Studies indicate a huge variation in the prevalence
falls among older adults in Malaysia ranging between 4-74%. A study that was
conducted in the community indicated lower prevalence of falls. Majority of the
falls occurred in the morning as reported by three studies which covered and
ranged between 49-64.7%. Indoor accounted as the highest number of falls in
term of location and ranged between 50-87% while outdoor falls were between
13-49.3%. Location in bathroom and toilet had the highest percentage of indoor
falls. Fallers that sustained injury ranged between 47-82%. A variation on the fall
prevalence among older adults was determined by factors such as location and
existing medical conditions. Pooled information in our study indicates that there is
lack of standardised measuring tools for falls characteristics in Malaysia. There is a
need for large scale longitudinal prospective study to establish the prevalence and
the causal-effect relationship of falls in Malaysia.
- Full text:22.2020my0032.pdf
