Journal Article

Investigating the relationship between sagittal spinal curvature and fall incidence and fall risk among elderly nursing home residents

Osanlou, Samaneh, Miri, Hadi, Hosseinzadeh, Mahdi, Nichols, Jeanne F.

2024

Overview

Summary Designing appropriate diagnostic and treatment methods to reduce fall risk and improve quality of life, as well as reduce the cost of care in elderlies. Our findings have potential for early diagnosis of those with a high probability of falling based on fairly simple clinical measures of hyperkyphosis, forward head, and lordosis. Introduction Poor balance is an underlying cause of falling in the elderly, for which a change in the natural curvature of the spine plays a major role. Little is known about the relationship between spinal curvatures and fall incidence in this population. We primarily aimed to investigate the relationship between sagittal plane spinal curvatures and fall incidence over 1 year among nursing facility residents. Secondarily, we aim to determine associations of sagittal plane spinal curvatures with participants’ perception of fall risk and balance capability. Methods Participants (100 residents mean age 70.17 ± 6.01 years) underwent standing measures of sagittal plane spinal curvatures (flexible ruler technique) and forward displacement of the head relative to the cervical spine. The Tinetti Performance Oriented Mobility Assessment (POMA) and Fall Efficacy Scale assessed participants’ perception of balance and fear of falling. Incident falls were self-reported monthly and tracked across 1 year. Spearman’s correlations and logistic regression evaluated associations between fall incidence and spinal curvature. Predictive performance of spinal curvature and fall risk was determined by the corresponding ROC for defining a cut-off for variables of spinal curvature and fall risk indicators. Results Predictive performance of spinal curvature and fall risk factors indicated 84% and 77% of participants were correctly classified using models of kyphosis and head angle, respectively. Conclusions Our study adds new data on spinal curvatures and incident falls among nursing facility residents. Efforts are needed to intervene to counter progression of spinal curvatures and improve fall prevention practices.

• Publisher: Springer London,Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: Balance / Endocrinology / Falls / Health risks / Kyphosis / Medicine / Medicine & Public Health / Nursing / Nursing homes / Older people / Original Article / Orthopedics / Perception / Quality of life / Regression analysis / Rheumatology / Risk factors / Spine (cervical)