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Housing Environmental Factors Driving Falls Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults: A National Cohort Study.

Authors :
Li, Shaojie
Cui, Guanghui
Er, Yuliang
Ye, Pengpeng
Xue, Tao
Zhang, Junfeng (Jim)
Liu, Xiaoyun
Duan, Leilei
Lv, Faqin
Yao, Yao
Source :
Innovation in Aging; 2023, Vol. 7 Issue 9, p1-10, 10p
Publication Year :
2023

Abstract

Background and Objectives Housing is one of the main places where falls occur; however, few studies have examined housing environmental factors driving fall risk. This study aimed to explore the associations between housing environmental factors and falls in China. Research Design and Methods The study included data of middle-aged and older adults aged ≥45 years from 4 waves of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. We assessed 7 housing environmental factors: building materials, toilet types, household tidiness, household cooking fuels, and access to electricity, running water, and bathing facilities. Based on these, we divided housing environments into 3 types: good (0–2 poor factors), moderate (3–5 poor factors), and poor (6–7 poor factors). Falls incidence (yes or no) was self-reported during the survey period. We applied the Cox proportional hazard model to estimate the associations, adjusting for a set of covariates such as sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyles, and disease status. Results A total of 12,382 participants were analyzed, and the incidence of falls was 31.7%. According to the fully adjusted model, having a squatting toilet (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.14, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.03–1.26), household untidiness (HR = 1.09, 95% CI = 1.01–1.18), and solid fuel use for cooking (HR = 1.10, 95% CI = 1.02–1.18) were associated with a higher risk of falls (p s < .05), compared to their counterparts. We found a linear relationship between housing environments and falls (p for trend = .001). Specifically, moderate (HR = 1.16, 95% CI = 1.06–1.27) and poor housing environments (HR = 1.21, 95% CI = 1.08–1.34) were associated with a higher risk of falls compared to a good housing environment. Discussion and Implications Among middle-aged and older Chinese adults, a better household environment, including sitting toilets, tidy living conditions, and clean fuel use for cooking, may reduce the risk of falls. The evidence from our study suggests the need to implement age-friendly housing environments to prevent falls and disability in an aging society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
23995300
Volume :
7
Issue :
9
Database :
Complementary Index
Journal :
Innovation in Aging
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
174446572
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igad121