A Study of ADL, Medications and Falls Frequency in Community-dwelling Elderly / 재활간호학회지

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify the risk factors for falls among the elderly living in community. METHOD: This was a descriptive study. The subjects comprised 80 elderly aged 65 years or over living in D city. The instruments used for this study was the MDS-HC V2.0. The data was analyzed by SPSS Win 14.0 using t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation. RESULT: Among the socio-demographic characteristics, the significant differences were found in ADL by gender and marital status. Older elderly(> or =85) used more medications than other elderly. The elderly were use average 4.33 medications, but 46.3% of the subjects didn't have the physician reviewed all medications. There was statistically significant correlation between number of medications and accidental falls. CONCLUSION: Nurses should inspect about the number of medications, drug interaction, and side effects. It would be preventive intervention for falls in elderly.