Inferior physical performance tests in 10,998 men in the MrOS study is associated with recurrent falls

Background: recurrent fallers are at especially high risk for injuries. Objective: to study whether tests of physical performance are associated with recurrent falls. Subjects: a total of 10,998 men aged 65 years or above. Methods: questionnaires evaluated falls sustained 12 months preceding testing of grip strength, timed stand, 6-m walk and 20-cm narrow walk test. Means with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) are reported. P < 0.01 is a statistically significant difference. Results: in comparison to both occasional fallers and non-fallers, recurrent fallers performed more poorly on all the physical ability tests (all P < 0.001). A score below -2 standard deviations (SDs) in the right-hand grip strength test was associated with an odds ratio of 2.4 (95% CI 1.7, 3.4) for having had recurrent falls compared with having had no fall and of 2.0 (95% CI 1.3, 3.4) for having had recurrent falls compared with having had an occasional fall. Conclusion: low performance in physical ability tests are in elderly men associated with recurrent falls.