Unintentional Injuries and Falls in Populations in Russia. The Ural Eye and Medical Study and the Ural Very Old Study

Background To explore the prevalence of self-reported unintentional injuries and falls (UIFs) in medium-aged and old populations in Russia and factors associated with them Methods Two population-based studies (Ural Eye and Medical Study (UEMS), Ural Very Old Study (UVOS)) were carried out urban and rural areas in Bashkortostan/Russia. They consisted of 5899 individuals (age: 40+ years) and 1526 participants (age: 85+ years), respectively. We assessed previous falls as part of an interview with standardized questions, conducted in the framework of a series medical and ophthalmological assessments. . Results In the UEMS with 5894 individuals (age:59.0±10.7 years), UIF prevalence was 1101/5894 (18.7%; 95% confidence interval (CI)CI:17.7,19.7), with 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, or 10+ UIFs reported by 766 (69.6%),146 (13.3%),56 (1.4%),15 (1.4%),19 (1.7%),3 (0.3%),2 (0.2%),1 (0.01%), and 10 (0.9%) participants, respectively. The UIFs had occurred as outdoor incidents (n=594;53.8%), at home (n=162;14.7%), on the road or traffic accidents (n=109;9.9%), at work (n=77;7.0%), during garden work (n=24;2.2%) or as falls from a higher level (n=17; 1.5%) or from house roofs (n=16;1.4%). In 100 (1.7% of the total study population; 9.1% of the group with UIFs) participants, low vision was reported as a major cause for the UIF. Higher UIF prevalence was associated (multivariable analysis) with older age (odds ratio (OR):1.01;95%CI:1.005,1.02;P<0.001), urban region of habitation (OR:1.59;95%CI:1.37,1.85;P=0.001), higher smoking package number (OR:1.01;95%CI:1.004,1.01;P=0.001), longer waist circumference (OR:1.01;95%CI:1.002,1.01;P=0.008), higher prevalence of a history of arthritis (OR:1.38;95%CI:1.18,1.62;P<0.001) and backache (OR:1.73;95%CI:1.49,2.02;P<0.001), and higher depression score (OR:1.05;95%CI:1.03,1.07;P<0.001). Out of 1525 UVOS participants (age:88.8±2.9 years;range:85-103.1 years), the UIF prevalence was 780/1525 (51.1%;95%CI: 48.6, 53.6), with 390 (50.0%), 116 (14.8%), 49 (6.3%), 12 (1.5%), 8 (1.0%), 2 (0.3%), 4 (0.5%), 1 (0.1%), and 15 (1.9%) participants reported about 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,or 10+ UIFs, respectively. The UIFs had occurred as outdoor incidents (n=386;25.3%), at home (n=214;14.0%), on the road or traffic accidents (n=22;1.4%), at work (n=21;1.4%), during garden work (n=10;0.7%) or as falls from a higher level (n=11;0.7%) or from house roofs (n=1;0.1%). A higher UIC prevalence correlated with female sex (OR:1.65;95%CI:1.30,2.09;P<0.001) and Russian ethnicity (OR:1.26;95%CI:1.02,1.56;P=0.03). Conclusions UIFs have occurred to a substantial part of the adult and very old population in Russia.