Association between Anemia and Falls in the Elderly

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Falls are the major cause of disability, hospitalization and mortality in the elderly. Various risk factors such as anemia cause falls in the elderly. The present study was conducted to investigate the relationship between anemia and falls in the elderly in Amirkola. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted among people aged 60 years and above in Amirkola during a one-year period as a census. Complete blood count was performed based on fasting blood sample. History of falls and associated chronic diseases was confirmed based on the patient's report, doctor's prescription and the patient's medications. The cognitive status was measured using Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) standard questionnaire, symptoms of depression were measured using Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) standard questionnaire and the balance status was measured using Berg Balance Test (BBT) standard questionnaire. FINDINGS: 1482 elderly individuals, including 817 men (55.1%) and 665 women (44.9%) were examined, among which 271 (18.3%) individuals experienced falls. 21.2% of people with anemia and 17.6% of people without anemia experienced falls, though the difference was not significant. Mean hemoglobin in all the participants as well as men (13.46 and 13.84 gr/dl, respectively) was less than people who did not experience falls (13.74 gr/dl, p=0.009 and 14.33 gr/dl, p=0.007, respectively). Based on logistic regression model, age of ≥75 (OR = 1.81), depression (OR = 1.84) and underlying diseases (OR = 1.2) played the most significant role in increasing falls. CONCLUSION: Results of the study demonstrated that there is no relationship between anemia and falls. However, after differentiating genders, decline in hemoglobin levels increased falls in the elderly men.

Keywords

• The elderly
• Anemia
• Falls