Table 3 The associations between demographic, systemic, socioeconomic characteristics with falls/recurrent falls.

From: Falls and Recurrent Falls among Adults in A Multi-ethnic Asian Population: The Singapore Epidemiology of Eye Diseases Study

Characteristics

Falls

Recurrent falls

OR (95% CI)*

P value

OR (95% CI)*

P value

Age (per decade older)

1.20 (1.11, 1.30)

<0.001

1.13 (0.99, 1.28)

0.066

Female gender

1.79 (1.54, 2.07)

<0.001

2.27 (1.75, 2.94)

<0.001

Ethnicity

    Malay

Reference

 

Reference

 

    Indian

1.10 (0.94, 1.29)

0.216

1.24 (0.96, 1.60)

0.105

    Chinese

1.10 (0.93, 1.31)

0.254

1.25 (0.94, 1.67)

0.131

BMI

    Normal

Reference

 

Reference

 

    Underweight

0.87 (0.63, 1.20)

0.387

0.90 (0.53, 1.55)

0.708

    Overweight

1.00 (0.87, 1.15)

0.957

0.97 (0.77, 1.23)

0.826

    Obese

1.10 (0.92, 1.32)

0.301

1.19 (0.89, 1.59)

0.240

Systemic disease

    Diabetes

1.22 (1.07, 1.40)

0.004

1.28 (1.03, 1.61)

0.028

    Hypertension

1.09 (0.95, 1.26)

0.230

1.13 (0.89, 1.45)

0.311

    Hyperlipidaemia

0.92 (0.81, 1.05)

0.202

0.91 (0.73, 1.12)

0.355

    Chronic kidney disease

1.01 (0.83, 1.21)

0.950

1.10 (0.82, 1.47)

0.539

    Cardiovascular disease

1.37 (1.14, 1.65)

0.001

2.00 (1.53, 2.62)

<0.001

Systemic Comorbidities#

    No systemic disease

Reference

 

Reference

 

    Any 1 systemic disease

1.15 (0.95, 1.39)

0.153

1.08 (0.78, 1.51)

0.638

    Any 2 systemic diseases

1.11 (0.91, 1.36)

0.302

1.12 (0.80, 1.59)

0.505

    ≥3 systemic diseases

1.35 (1.09, 1.67)

0.005

1.69 (1.19, 2.39)

0.004

    P-trend

—

0.010

—

0.001

Deafness

1.09 (0.48, 2.52)

0.834

1.93 (0.69, 5.39)

0.206

EQ-5D score (per SD decrease)

1.36 (1.29, 1.44)

<0.001

1.47 (1.35, 1.59)

<0.001

Housing categories

    ≥5 room public flat/private housing

Reference

 

Reference

 

    1–2 room public flat

1.25 (0.97, 1.62)

0.087

1.57 (1.05, 2.33)

0.028

    3–4 room public flat

0.94 (0.81, 1.09)

0.392

1.13 (0.83, 1.55)

0.438

    Living alone

1.11 (0.85, 1.44)

0.446

1.11 (0.73, 1.70)

0.616

Education level

    No formal education

Reference

 

Reference

 

    Primary education

0.94 (0.79, 1.10)

0.430

1.02 (0.78, 1.33)

0.897

    Secondary education or above

1.10 (0.91, 1.33)

0.324

1.13 (0.83, 1.55)

0.438

Monthly income

    ≥2000SGD

Reference

 

Reference

 

    <2000SGD

1.10 (0.91, 1.33)

0.322

1.62 (1.13, 2.31)

0.009

Current smoker

0.93 (0.75, 1.14)

0.479

1.05 (0.74, 1.50)

0.771

Alcohol consumption

1.41 (1.11, 1.78)

0.004

1.81 (1.23, 2.66)

0.003

  1. OR = odds ratio, 95% CI = 95% confidence interval, SD = standard deviation, BMI = the body mass index, EQ-5D = European Quality of Life-5 Dimensions, SGD = the Singapore Dollar.
  2. *Model adjusted for age, gender, ethnicity, presenting visual impairment (based on better eye), BMI, living alone, education, housing categories, income, deafness, EQ-5D score, systemic diseases/comorbidities, current smoker and alcohol consumption.
  3. #Systemic comorbidities were classified based on the concurrent presence of two or more systemic conditions, namely, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, chronic kidney disease or cardiovascular disease.
  4. The evaluation of systemic comorbidities as exposure of interest was performed in a separate model where diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular disease were not included in the model.
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