Centre for Policy on Ageing



Is social integration associated with the risk of falling in older community-dwelling women?
Author(s)	Kimberly A Faulkner, Jane A Cauley, Joseph M Zmuda
Journal title	Journals of Gerontology: Series A, Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, vol 58A, no 10, October 2003
Pages	pp 954-959
Source	www.geron.org
Keywords	Older women ; Integration ; At risk ; Falls ; Living in the community ; Longitudinal surveys ; United States of America.
Annotation	Social integration may lead to social support, which may in turn protect older people living in the community from falls. The authors examined incident falls over 3 years across quartiles of social integration scores for 6,692 white women (mean age 77) enrolled in the US Study of Osteoporotic Fractures (SOF). Social integration was assessed using family networks, friendship networks and interdependence scores. A total of 11,863 falls were reported, or 600 falls per 1000 women per year. In age-adjusted analysis, the average incidence rate of falls correlated inversely with family networks and interdependence. In multivariate analysis, increasing family networks were inversely associated with fall risk. Thus, strong family networks may protect against the risk of falls in older people living in the community. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-040406206 A
Classmark	BD: TO: CA3: OLF: K4: 3J: 7T
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.