Factors associated with recurrent falls in a cohort of older adults/ Fatores associados a recorrencia de quedas em uma coorte de idosos.(articulo en portuguese )

Objective: To analyze the factors associated with recurrent falls in community-dwelling older adults from Cuiaba. Methods: This is an epidemiological, prospective, concurrent cohort study with a two-year follow-up. In-home surveys were conducted in 2012 and 2013. The data were treated by the software Epi Info and SPSS. Bivariate analysis investigated associations between risk factors and recurrent falls by calculating the relative risk (RR) of the cumulative incidences with a confidence interval of 95% (95%CI). Multiple analysis with Poisson regression included all variables with p < 0.20 in the crude analyses. The significance level of 5% (p < 0.05) was adopted as significant association for remaining in the final model. Results: Most older adults (77.6%) had recurrent falls. The variables significantly associated with recurrent falls were older adult's income of up to two minimum salaries (RR = 1.62; 95%CI 1.04-1.77), absence of arthritis or arthrosis (RR = 1.32; 95%CI 1.10-1.48), having regular to very bad self-perceived health (RR = 1.44; 95%CI 1.12-2.04), and having visual impairment (RR = 1.23; 95%CI 1.01-1.69). Conclusions: Falls in older adults are associated with low education levels, regular to very bad self-perceived health, visual impairment, and recurrent falls. Key words Accidents by falls, Older adults, Risk factors O objetivo deste artigo e analisar os fatores associados a recorrencia de quedas de idosos na comunidade em Cuiaba. Estudo epidemiologico, prospectivo, de coorte concorrente e seguimento de dois anos, por meio de inqueritos domiciliares em 2012 e em 2013, utilizaram-se os programas Epi Info e SPSS. Na analise bivariada buscou-se associacoes entre os fatores de risco e a recorrencia de quedas pelo calculo do risco relativo das incidencias cumulativas (IC 95%). A analise multipla foi realizada pela Regressao de Poisson, sendo incluidas todas as variaveis que apresentaram associacoes com p valor < 0,20 a partir das analises brutas. Adotou-se o nivel de significancia de 0,05 como de associacao estatisticamente significante para a permanencia no modelo final. Dos idosos, 77,6% sofreram recorrencia de quedas. Mantiveram-se associadas com significancia estatistica as variaveis renda do idoso de ate 2 salarios minimos (RR = 1,62; IC95% 1,04-1,77), ausencia de artrite ou artrose (RR = 1,32; IC95% 1,10-1,48), ter regular e pessima autopercepcao de saude (RR = 1,44; IC95% 1,12-2,04) e ter problema de visao (RR = 1,23; IC95% = 1,01 -1,69). A