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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Use of personal call alarms among community-dwelling older people | | Author(s) | Samuel R Nyman, Christina R Victor |
| Journal title | Ageing and Society, vol 34, no 1, January 2014 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press, January 2014 |
| Pages | pp 67-89 |
| Source | journals.cambridge.org/aso |
| Keywords | Alarm systems ; Assistive technology ; Falls ; Accident prevention ; Living in the community ; Cross sectional surveys. |
| Annotation | Having a fall and then lying on the floor for an hour or more is known as a 'long lie', which is associated with serious injury and an elevated risk of admission to hospital, long-term care and death. Personal call alarms are designed to prevent long lies, although little is known about their use. Using cross-sectional data from the English Longitudinal Study on Ageing (ELSA), this study investigated the proportion of self-reported users of personal call alarms among 3,091 community-dwelling adults aged 65+ who reported difficulties of mobility or activities of daily living. The characteristics of users were then explored through logistic regressions comparing those living alone with those living with others. 180 people (6%) self-reported using a personal call alarm. Multivariate regression found the following to significantly predict personal call alarm use among both those living alone and with others: greater difficulty with activities of daily living (ADLs) or instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs); older age; and for those living with others only, lower score on the quality of life sub-scale for control. Personal call alarm use may be markedly lower than the 30% annual incidence of falls among community-dwelling older people. Better understanding is needed of the reasons for low usage, even amongst those at highest risk of falls for whom such alarms are most likely to be beneficial. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-150505004 A |
| Classmark | OV: M: OLF: OQ: K4: 3KB |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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