The association between risk factors, sleep-related characteristics, excessive daytime sleepiness, and falls in older adults
Keywords:
daytime sleepiness, older adults, falling, risk factorAbstract
Falls are a major health problem that cause disability in older adults, reduce their quality of life, and increase the burden on caregivers. The causes of falls are due to various risk factors, including daytime sleepiness. This study aimed to investigate the association between risk factors, excessive daytime sleepiness, and the incidence of falls in older adults. Data were collected between October and December 2024, using a questionnaire on personal data and risk factors related to falls, sleep-related characteristics, and Epworth sleepiness scale. Chi-square statistics were used to analyze the data.
The sample consisted of 393 elderly people living in Lak Si community, Bangkok, aged 60-87 years, mean age=71.3 years (SD=3.4), and the majority (65.9%) were female. The study results found that 33.8 % of older adults had an incident of falling. Risk factors associated with falls include gender, age, occupation, income, education level, alcohol consumption, underlying diseases, impaired vision, and impaired balance, as well as sleep pattern, and excessive daytime sleepiness. It was found that sleep pattern, such as waking up during the night, caused the highest incidence of falls, followed by daytime sleepiness and difficulty in falling asleep
The results of this study suggested that there should be an integrated approach to prevent falls in older adults by reducing and controlling various risk factors and monitoring older adults with risk factors, together with promoting effective sleep at night and solving the problem of daytime sleepiness.
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