背景:跌倒是老年人受伤的主要原因。环境物体(如家具、墙壁,和扶手)可能充当危险或促进者,以平衡维护和安全着陆。缺乏关于老年人在跌倒期间如何与物体互动的客观证据。我们通过表征长期护理中现实生活中跌倒时身体部位与地板以外物体的接触来解决这一差距。
方法:我们分析了584名居民经历的1759次跌倒的视频,以描述之前与物体接触的患病率,during,在坠落开始之后。使用广义估计方程,我们比较了跌倒开始后有与物体接触者和无接触者的跌倒发生率.使用线性混合模型,我们测试了跌倒开始后身体部位接触物体的概率差异。
结果:在近三分之一的跌倒中,与对象的交互(例如,越过物体,失去对物体的支持)或与其他人的支持(例如,被另一个人推动)在导致失衡和引发跌倒方面发挥了主要作用。坠落开始后,参与者在60%的跌倒中接触物体,通过抓握或支撑有意的手接触物体是最常见的交互类型(概率±SE=0.32±0.01),其次是对躯干(0.21±0.01)和头部(0.16±0.01)的无意影响。在向前跌倒过程中,有意的手接触物体比向后跌倒更常见(p<0.001),而头部和躯干与物体的接触在向后和侧向跌倒时比向前跌倒更常见(多个p值≤0.003)。最常接触椅子的手,轮椅或沙发,后跟表格或计数器,墙壁,其他人,步行者,和扶手。头,躯干,和肩膀最常接触墙壁。
结论:长期护理中的大多数跌倒涉及与地面以外的物体接触,这表明在长期护理中,复杂的环境往往伴随着跌倒。在前向跌倒中故意手部接触的概率更高,与意外的头部和躯干撞击在向后和侧向跌倒可能反映了能够可视化和调整一个人的跌倒模式对附近物体的影响。
BACKGROUND: Falls are the leading cause of injuries in older adults. Environmental objects (such as furniture, walls, and handrails) may act as hazards or facilitators to balance maintenance and safe landing. There is lack of objective evidence on how older adults interact with objects during falls. We addressed this gap by characterizing body part contacts with objects other than the floor during real-life falls in long-term care.
METHODS: We analyzed videos of 1759 falls experienced by 584 residents to characterize the prevalence of contacts with objects before, during, and after fall initiation. Using generalized estimating equations, we compared the prevalence of falls with versus without contact to objects after fall initiation. Using linear mixed models, we tested for differences across body parts in the probability of contacting objects after fall initiation.
RESULTS: In nearly one-third of falls, interactions with objects (e.g., trips over objects, loss of support with objects) or with other people (e.g., being pushed by another person) had a primary role in causing imbalance and initiating the fall. After fall initiation, participants contacted objects in 60% of falls, with intentional hand contacts to objects via reach-to-grasp or bracing being the most common type of interaction (Probability ± SE = 0.32 ± 0.01), followed by unintentional impacts to the torso (0.21 ± 0.01) and head (0.16 ± 0.01). Intentional hand contact to an object was more common during forward than backward falls (p < 0.001), while head and torso contacts to objects were more common during backward and sideways falls than forward falls (multiple p values ≤ 0.003). The hand most often contacted chairs, wheelchairs or couches, followed by tables or counters, walls, other people, walkers, and handrails. The head, torso, and shoulder most often contacted a wall.
CONCLUSIONS: Most falls in long-term care involved contacts with objects other than the ground, indicating that complex environments often accompany falls in long-term care. Higher probabilities of intentional hand contacts in forward falls, versus unintentional head and torso impacts in backward and sideways falls may reflect the influence of being able to visualize and adjust one\'s falling patterns to nearby objects.