Emotional Stress and Falls in the Elderly
Author Information
Author(s): Jette Möller, Johan Hallqvist, Lucie Laflamme, Fredrik Mattsson, Sari Ponzer, Siv Sadigh, Karin Engström
Primary Institution: Karolinska Institutet
Hypothesis
Can emotional stress trigger falls leading to hip or pelvic fractures among older people?
Conclusion
Emotional stress seems to have the potential to trigger falls and subsequent hip or pelvic fracture among autonomous older people.
Supporting Evidence
- Emotional stress was reported by 24.1% of patients in the 24 hours prior to injury.
- The study found increased relative risks for falls after emotional stress: 12.2 for anger, 5.7 for sadness, and 20.6 for stress.
- The majority of participants were women (78.1%) and aged 80 or older (64.2%).
Takeaway
When older people feel strong emotions like anger or stress, they might fall and hurt themselves. This study looked at how those feelings can lead to serious injuries.
Methodology
The study used a case-crossover design with face-to-face interviews to gather data from elderly patients admitted for fall-related fractures.
Potential Biases
Non-participation due to workload of research nurses may introduce bias, but it is unlikely to be selective regarding exposure status.
Limitations
The number of exposed cases is small, which challenges the robustness of the estimated effects.
Participant Demographics
{"gender":{"men":21.9,"women":78.1},"age":{"65-79":35.8,"80+":64.2},"birth_country":"Sweden","civil_status":{"married":39.4},"housing_type":{"house":17.5,"apartment":75.2,"flat_in_service_flats":5.1,"other":2.2}}
Statistical Information
Confidence Interval
95% CI 2.7–54.7 for anger, 95% CI 1.1–28.7 for sadness, 95% CI 4.5–93.5 for stress
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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