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. 2024 Jul:87:105671.
doi: 10.1016/j.msard.2024.105671. Epub 2024 May 6.

Life space assessment and falls in older adults with multiple sclerosis

Roee Holtzer  1 , Robert W Motl  2 , Mark E Wagshul  3 , Mary Ann Picone  4 , Manuel E Hernandez  5 , Meltem Izzetoglu  6 , Michael L Lipton  7 , Frederick W Foley  8
Affiliations

Life space assessment and falls in older adults with multiple sclerosis

Roee Holtzer et al. Mult Scler Relat Disord. 2024 Jul.

Abstract

Background/objective: Falls research in older adults with MS (OAMS) is scarce, and no studies have reported on the association between life-space mobility and falls in this group. Herein, we hypothesized that higher baseline life-space scores would be associated with reduced odds of reporting falls during follow-up, and explored whether the association differed by MS subtype (progressive vs. relapsing-remitting).

Methods: OAMS (n = 91, mean age = 64.7 ± 4.3ys, %female = 66.9,%progressive MS = 30.7) completed the University of Alabama at Birmingham Life-Space-Assessment (UAB-LSA) scale and reported falls during a structured monthly telephone interview during follow-up (mean = 16.39 ± 11.44 months). General Estimated Equations (GEE) models were utilized to determine whether UAB-LSA scores predicted falls during follow-up.

Results: GEE models revealed that higher UAB-LSA scores were associated with a significant reduction in the odds of falling during follow-up (OR = 0.69, p = 0.012, 95 %CI = 0.51 to 0.92). Stratified analyses revealed that this association was significant in progressive (OR = 0.57, p = 0.004, 95 %CI = 0.39 to 0.84), but not relapsing-remitting (OR = 0.93, p = 0.779, 95 %CI = 0.57 to 1.53) MS.

Conclusion: Higher life-space mobility was associated with lower odds of falling among OAMS with progressive subtype. The UAB-LSA may complement existing mobility measures for predicting fall risk.

Keywords: Aging; Falls; Multiple sclerosis; life space mobility.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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