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Exercise reduces risk for falls, related injuries among middle-aged adults

Analysis of nationally representative U.S. survey data showed a decreased frequency of falls and fall-related injuries among middle-aged adults who engaged in leisure-time physical activity.

“In the U.S., falls are the leading cause of nonfatal injuries treated in hospital emergency departments in every age stratum except 15 to 24 years,” Alberto J. Caban-Martinez, DO, PhD, MPH, of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and colleagues wrote. “Falls are also the third leading cause of unintentional injury deaths among those aged 45 to 64 years. Secular trends suggest an increasing burden of injuries from falls leading to emergency room visits, hospitalizations, and deaths.”

To assess the association between self-reported engagement in leisure-time physical activity and frequency of falls and fall-related injuries, researchers analyzed data from the 2010 U.S. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey for 340,680 adults who self-reported their fall experience and resulting injuries in the previous 3 months. Associations between leisure-time physical activity and self-reported falls were assessed across three age groups: 45 to 54 years, 55 to 64 years, and 65 years or older.

Overall, 70.7% of study participants reported engaging in leisure-time physical activity, and 17% reported one or more falls. Of those who reported a fall within 3 months, 25% experienced one injurious fall, and 8.4% reported two or more injurious falls.

When controlling for sociodemographic and health characteristics among adults aged 45 to 54 years, those who engaged in leisure-time physical activity were less likely to report one fall (prevalence ratio = 0.9; 95% CI, 0.81-0.99), two or more falls (PR = 0.84; 95% CI, 0.77-0.93), one injurious fall (PR = 0.88; 95% CI, 0.78-0.99) and two or more injurious falls (PR = 0.69; 95% CI, 0.58-0.83) compared with those who did not report exercise.

Researchers also found a similar protective effect of leisure-time physical activity among the other two age groups.

“The present findings suggest that engagement in [leisure-time physical activity] is associated with lower reporting of falls and fall-related injuries among middle-aged adults (aged 45 to 64 years),” Caban-Martinez and colleagues wrote. “This finding is particularly encouraging given the increasing knowledge of the positive effects that regular physical exercise has on other chronic health conditions.

“The public health impact of physical activity on falls and injury-related falls is particularly important within this critical segment of the U.S. population in terms of primary and secondary prevention efforts. Providers may now offer an additional positive benefit when encouraging middle-aged adults to remain physically active during their leisure time.” – by Amanda Oldt

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.