Validity of 12-Month Falls Recall in Community-Dwelling Older Women Participating in a Clinical Trial

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Sanders, KM; Stuart, AL; Scott, D; Kotowicz, MA; Nicholson, GCDate
2015-01-01Source Title
International Journal of EndocrinologyPublisher
HINDAWI LTDAffiliation
Medicine and RadiologyMetadata
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Journal ArticleCitations
Sanders, K. M., Stuart, A. L., Scott, D., Kotowicz, M. A. & Nicholson, G. C. (2015). Validity of 12-Month Falls Recall in Community-Dwelling Older Women Participating in a Clinical Trial. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENDOCRINOLOGY, 2015, https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/210527.Access Status
Open AccessAbstract
Objectives. To compare 12-month falls recall with falls reported prospectively on daily falls calendars in a clinical trial of women aged ≥70 years. Methods. 2,096 community-dwelling women at high risk of falls and/or fracture completed a daily falls calendar and standardised interviews when falls were recorded, for 12 months. Data were compared to a 12-month falls recall question that categorised falls status as "no falls," "a few times," "several," and "regular" falls. Results. 898 (43%) participants reported a fall on daily falls calendars of whom 692 (77%) recalled fall(s) at 12 months. Participants who did not recall a fall were older (median 79.3 years versus 77.8 years, P = 0.028). Smaller proportions of fallers who sustained an injury or accessed health care failed to recall a fall (all P < 0.04). Among participants who recalled "no fall," 85% reported zero falls on daily calendars. Few women selected falls categories of "several times" or "regular" (4.1% and 0.4%, resp.) and the sensitivity of these categories was low (30% to 33%). Simply categorising participants into fallers or nonfallers had 77% sensitivity and 94% specificity. Conclusion. For studies where intensive ascertainment of falls is not feasible, 12-month falls recall questions with fewer responses may be an acceptable alternative.
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