Incidence of falls among empty nesters in China: a meta-analysis / 预防医学

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To systematically evaluate the incidence of falls among empty nesters in China, so as to provide the evidence for preventing falls among empty nesters.@*Methods@#Publications pertaining to cross-sectional studies of falls among empty nesters in China were retrieved from international and national databases, including CNKI, Wanfang Data, VIP, Cochrane Library, Web of Science and PubMed from inception to August, 2022. Meta-analysis was performed using the software Stata 15.1, and the combined incidence and 95%CI of falls among empty nesters in China was analyzed. Sensitivity analysis was performed using the leave-one-out method to evaluate the stability of outcome indicators. In addition, the publication bias was evaluated using Funnel plot. @*Results@#Initially, 795 articles were screened in the literature, and 17 articles were finally included, covering 5 468 participants. Meta-analysis revealed that the incidence of falls among empty nesters in China was 23.0% (95%CI 16.6%-29.5%). Subgroup analysis showed that the incidence of falls among empty nesters published from 2016 to 2022 was higher than that from 2008 to 2015 (20.4% vs. 17.3%; P<0.05). The incidence of falls among empty nesters in western regions was higher than that in eastern and central regions (27.4% vs. 15.9% and 15.0%; P<0.05). The incidence of falls among empty nesters in urban areas was higher than that in rural areas (20.8% vs. 9.9%; P<0.05). Sensitivity analysis showed that the study results were stable, and the funnel plot identified some publication bias. @*Conclusion@#The incidence of falls among empty nesters in China was 16.6% to 29.5%, and it is recommended to strengthen the assessment and prevention of risk factors of falls among empty nesters.