• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.13 no.12
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• pp.276-290
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• 2013

PURPOSE: This study compared the elderly falls and the intrinsic fall risk factors according to gender. METHODS: This descriptive cross-sectional study was a secondary analysis of the data collected for medical checkups for the Transitional Periods of Life supported from the National Health Insurance. The subjects examined were 255,505 people aged 66 years in Korea between January and December, 2008. RESULTS: The elderly people aged 66 when in the transitional periods of life experienced 10.6% of their first falls. The first falls of women (12.4%) was greater than that of men (8.5%) in the elderly. The risk factors for falls included dysuria with an odds ratio of 6.2 to 6.6, depression with an odds ratio of 1.5 to 1.8, gait disturbance with an odds ratio of 1.3 to 1.5, and blindness with an odds ratio of 1.3 to 1.4 in both elderly women and men. CONCLUSIONS: Effective fall prevention should focus on dysuria because it is a more important predictor of falls, even though many intrinsic fall risk factors can affect falls in elderly people.