Prevalence and Risk Factors for Fall among Rural Elderly: A County-Based Cross-Sectional Survey

Table 2

Description of the reason, anatomical site, pathological type, and location of falls and comparison between the genders in a rural elderly population.

	Total		Sex				P-value
			Male		Female
	N	%	N	%	N	%
Total	3752		1673	44.6	2079	55.4
Season
Spring	128	17.3	38	19.3	90	23.7	0.148
Summer	337	45.5	110	55.8	227	59.7
Autumn	176	23.8	49	24.9	127	33.4
Winter	100	13.5	35	17.8	65	17.1
Fall reason
Slippery ground	165	24.1	56	32.6	109	29.8	0.083a
Obstacles in corridors	141	20.6	34	19.8	107	29.2
Unsuitable clothes and shoes	5	0.7	2	1.2	3	0.8
Poor eyesight	35	5.1	15	8.7	20	5.5
Leg weakness	144	21.1	40	23.3	104	28.4
Dizzy	127	18.6	39	22.7	88	24.0
No bedside rail restraint	8	1.2	2	1.2	6	1.6
Trance	45	6.6	9	5.2	36	9.8
Other	14	2.0	7	4.1	7	1.9
Anatomical site of fall
Head and neck	70	10.8	24	13.3	46	12.7	0.612a
Spinal bone and back	48	7.4	15	8.3	33	9.1
Upper extremities	190	29.4	52	28.9	138	38.1
Lower extremities	223	34.5	80	44.4	143	39.5
Chest	26	4.0	9	5.0	17	4.7
Abdomen	12	1.9	3	1.7	9	2.5
Pelvis	21	3.2	9	5.0	12	3.3
Buttock	54	8.3	17	9.4	37	10.2
Other anatomical sites	3	0.5	1	0.6	2	0.6
Pathological type of fall
Bruise	274	46.8	98	56.3	176	49.4	0.506a
Twist	124	21.2	39	22.4	85	23.9
Dislocation	15	2.6	3	1.7	12	3.4
Fracture	133	22.7	38	21.8	95	26.7
Open (penetrating trauma)	11	1.9	3	1.7	8	2.2
Visceral injury	3	0.5	0	0.0	3	0.8
Brain dysfunction	10	1.7	2	1.1	8	2.2
Crush	14	2.4	6	3.4	8	2.2
Other	2	0.3	1	0.6	1	0.3
Fall place
Living room	218	32.7	64	31.5	154	39.3	0.421a
Bathroom	41	6.2	14	6.9	27	6.9
In the yard	116	17.4	36	17.7	80	20.4
On the road	137	20.6	54	26.6	83	21.2
Workplace (farmland)	134	20.1	48	23.6	86	21.9
Public place	18	2.7	5	2.5	13	3.3
Other places	2	0.3	1	0.5	1	0.3
Activity
Taking a shower	23	3.6	10	5.1	13	3.4	<0.05
Going to the toilet	37	5.9	12	6.1	25	6.5
Going to bed or out of bed	43	6.8	19	9.6	24	6.3
Walking	345	54.6	97	49.2	248	64.8
Exercising	32	5.1	20	10.2	12	3.1
Working	108	17.1	45	22.8	63	16.4
Going on a ride	15	2.4	6	3.0	9	2.3
Other	29	4.6	8	4.1	21	5.5
Anatomical site of fracture
Skull	10	5.1	3	5.5	7	5.4	0.282a
Vertebrae	21	10.8	7	12.7	14	10.8
Collum femoris	2	1.0	1	1.8	1	0.8
Upper limbs	80	41.0	18	32.7	62	47.7
Lower limbs	63	32.3	20	36.4	43	33.1
Pelvis	13	6.7	3	5.5	10	7.7
Ribs	6	3.1	4	7.3	2	1.5

; % = rate; “a” is Fisher’s exact test.