Objective: To determine the frequency of falls and identify risk factors for falls among older Mexican-American women.
Design: A prospective cohort study with an average follow-up of 2.7 years.
Setting: A clinical center at the Palo Alto Veterans Affairs Medical Center, California.
Participants: 152 community-dwelling Mexican-American Caucasian women aged 59 years or older.
Outcome measures: Falls and injurious falls, as determined by monthly telephone interviews.
Results: The rate of falls was 508 per 1000 person-years (95% confidence interval (CI), 440-577). Injurious falls requiring medical attention occurred at a rate of 79 per 1000 person-years (95% CI, 52-107). Factors that were associated independently with an increased risk of falling were older age, a history of arthritis or rheumatism, a history of high thyroid, having fainted at least once in the year before baseline, current use of psychotropic medications, and walking fewer than 5 blocks a day. Those persons with an average time for the chair stand test had a lower risk of falling than those with the slowest times or the fastest times.
Conclusions: The frequency of falls and injurious falls in this cohort of 152 relatively acculturated, healthy, older Mexican-American women was similar or slightly higher than previously reported rates for non-Hispanic Caucasian(s). Many of the factors associated with falls in this study were similar to those reported for non-Hispanic Caucasian women, suggesting that fall prevention measures tested mainly among non-Hispanic Caucasian women would also be appropriate for Mexican-American women.