Clinical features of fallers and non-fallers: finding best-performing combinations of physical performance measurements to discriminate physical impairments between fallers and non-fallers among older adults with and without osteoporosis.

Abstract

Is osteoporosis related to worst outcomes after fall accidents? After a fall accident, there were no differences in walking and balance between individuals with/without osteoporosis. Gains in fat tissue, higher pain, and difficulty to walk were related to previous falls, regardless of osteoporosis.

Purpose: Impairments are expected after an accidental fall in the older age; whoever, it is still unclear if patients suffering from osteoporosis are in higher risks of fall accidents and if such accidents would cause worst outcomes compared with older adults without osteoporosis. The objective of this study was to discriminate fallers and non-fallers via a combination of physical performance measurements of older adults (65 + years) with and without osteoporosis.

Methods: Older adults (n = 116) were screened for a previous fall accident and tested during (i) quiet stance; (ii) single- and dual-task walking; (iii) 8-Foot Up-and-Go; (iv) Mini BESTest; (v) 2-min step-in-place and (vi) 30-s chair stand. Evaluation of average daily pain intensity and total body fat% were obtained.

Results: Forty-four subjects (38%) reported a previous fall accident. There was, however, no association between osteoporosis and previous fall. Fallers had a higher daily pain intensity, higher body fat%, slower walking speed during a cognitive dual-task test and worse performance at the 8-Foot Up-and-Go test and the Mini BESTest compared to non-fallers.

Conclusions: Although the presence of osteoporosis might not increase the risk of fall accidents, healthcare professionals should expect that accidental falls in older adults are associated with higher body fat%, higher daily pain intensity and problems performing daily activities such as walking.