J Prev Med Public Health.  2012 Sep;45(5):283-290.

Effect of Preexisting Musculoskeletal Diseases on the 1-Year Incidence of Fall-related Injuries

• Lee WK
• Kong KA
• Park H

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
People who have chronic diseases, as well as gait imbalance or psychiatric drug use, may be susceptible to injuries from falls and slips. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of musculoskeletal diseases on incidental fall-related injuries among adults in Korea.
METHODS
We analyzed data from the 4th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2007-2009), which are national data obtained by a rolling survey sampling method. The 1-year incidence of fall-related injuries was defined by health service utilization within the last year due to injury occurring after a slip and fall, and musculoskeletal diseases included osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, and back pain. To evaluate the effects of preexisting musculoskeletal diseases, adults diagnosed before the last year were considered the exposed group, and adults who had never been diagnosed were the unexposed group.
RESULTS
The weighted lifetime prevalence of musculoskeletal disease was 32 540 per 100 000 persons. Musculoskeletal diseases were associated with a higher risk of fall-related injury after adjustment for sex, age, residence, household income, education, occupation, visual disturbance, paralysis due to stroke, and medication for depression (odds ratio [OR], 1.41; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03 to 1.93). As the number of comorbid musculoskeletal diseases increased, the risk of fall-induced injuries increased (p-value for trend <0.001). In particular, patients who had any musculoskeletal condition were at much higher risk of recurrent fall-related injuries (OR, 6.20; 95% CI, 1.06 to 36.08).
CONCLUSIONS
One must take into account the risk of fall-related injuries and provide prevention strategies among adults who have musculoskeletal diseases.

Keyword

Arthritis; Osteoporosis; Back pain; Accidental falls; Wounds and injuries

MeSH Terms

Accidental Falls/*statistics & numerical data
Adolescent
Adult
Age Factors
Aged
Arthritis, Rheumatoid/complications/epidemiology
Back Pain/complications/epidemiology
Female
Health Surveys
Humans
Incidence
Male
Middle Aged
Musculoskeletal Diseases/*complications
Osteoarthritis/complications/epidemiology
Osteoporosis/complications/epidemiology
Republic of Korea/epidemiology
Risk Factors
Sex Factors
Socioeconomic Factors
Young Adult