The role of comprehensive geriatric assessment in predicting fall risk

Background The prevention of falls among older adults is one of the most important public health issues in today's aging society. There are many factors significantly affecting the risk of falls. Aims This study aimed to investigate the factors on fall risk in older adults. Methods A total of 335 elderly outpatients aged 65 and over were included in this cross-sectional study. Comprehensive geriatric assessment was performed on the participants. Tinetti Balance and Gait Assessment Tool (TBGA) and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) were used to assess fall risk and cognitive functions, respectively. Results The mean age of 335 participants was 72.1 +/- 6.0 years and 55.2% was female. Of the participants, 40.6% had a moderate-high fall risk according to TBGA and 31.6% had a history of falls within the last year. Although there was no significant difference in MMSE results between the medium-high fall risk group and the low fall risk group, higher MMSE attention and calculation domain score was found to be an independent variable for decreased fall risk and sarcopenia for increased fall risk (p = 0.039, OR = 0.70 and p = 0.037, OR = 3.43, respectively). Conclusion The role of sarcopenia in fall risk is well established. In this study, we also showed that attention and calculation play important roles in fall risk. Elderly individuals with low scores in attention and calculation domains need a more detailed assessment in terms of fall risk, even if cognitive functions are considered normal according to the MMSE.