Comparison of Falls and its Determinants in the Elderly with and without Knee Osteoarthritis

The growth of aging reveals the importance of paying attention to the health needs of the elderly. According to some studies, falls and its consequences are more common in the individuals with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) than those without KOA, but due to lack of evidence, its related factors are still unknown. Thus, the aim of this study was to compare the falls and its determinants in the elderly with and without KOA.

In this case-control study, 700 older adults in two groups of elderly with and without KOA were compared in terms of falls and some variables including KOA, sex, age, body mass index, living status, quadriceps femoris muscle strength, hand muscles strength, balance, number of comorbidities, number of drugs used, walking duration, physical activity and frailty. KOA was diagnosed based on The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria.

In this study, falls were 1.90 times higher in the elderly with KOA than elderly without KOA. Although all variables were significantly different in case and control groups, only female gender (p=0.035) and KOA (p=0.012) were significantly associated with falls.

These findings suggest that variables in combination may increase the risk of falls in the elderly with KOA, while each of them alone may not be associated with falls.