<p> One in three American older adults fall every year, making falls the leading cause of nonfatal injury treated in the emergency department (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2013). Fall-related injuries cost the United States healthcare system nearly $30 billion a year and result in 27,000 deaths per year (Burns, Stevens, & Lee, 2016). The risk of falls increases with age, occurring more often in women than man. Age-related muscle weakness and functional decline contribute to fall risk. Age-related changes in neuroendocrine hormone production and shifts in circadian rhythms promote sleep disorders, affecting nearly two-thirds of older adults. Poor sleep quality over time leads to drowsiness and impaired attention span and judgment. The purpose of this secondary analysis of a previously collected data set was to describe the relationships among frailty, subjective sleep quality, and falls in community-dwelling older adults. This secondary analysis also sought to determine the extent to which frailty and subjective sleep quality predict risk of future falls among community-dwelling older adults. Correlational analyses were performed to determine the nature and significance of the relationship between sleep quality and falls, frailty and falls, and sleep quality and frailty. A multiple regression analysis was performed to determine if sleep quality and frailty combined could predict falls. Frailty was found to account for a small variance in fall risk. However, sleep quality was not significantly related to falls nor was sleep quality predictive of falls. Risk for falls should be assessed at every clinical encounter and efforts to promote restful sleep should be addressed at least annually to reduce the risks of falls, functional decline, and sleep disorders among older adults in the community.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:10610477 |
| Date | 06 June 2017 |
| Creators | Staal, Jacqueline |
| Publisher | Florida Atlantic University |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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