Sex-specific association between obesity and self-reported falls and injuries among community-dwelling Canadians aged 65 years and older

Summary This study investigated the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and falls among community-dwelling elderly. Results indicate that obesity is associated with increased falls and there appears to be a sex-specific difference with obese men at higher risk of falling. Obesity is identified as a risk factor for falls in men. Introduction The prevalence of falls, fall-related injuries, and obesity has increased over the last decade. The objectives of this study were to investigate sex-specific association and dose-response relationship between BMI and falls (and related injuries) among community-dwelling elderly. Methods Our study sample consisted of 15,860 adults aged 65 years or older (6399 men and 9461 women) from the 2008–2009 Canadian Community Health Survey-Healthy Aging (CCHS-HA). Falls, fall-related injuries, and BMI measures were self-reported. For both sex, dose-response curves presenting the relationship between BMI, falls, and fall-related injuries were first examined. Thereafter, multivariate logistic regression analyses were also performed to investigate these relationships after adjustment for potentially confounding variables. Results Of women, 21.7 % reported a fall and 16.9 % of men. The dose-response relationship between BMI and prevalence of falls showed that underweight and obese individuals reported falling more than normal and overweight individuals; this being more apparent in men than women. Finally, the dose relationship between BMI and prevalence of fall-related injuries showed that only obese men seem more likely to have sustained a fall-related injury. Results from the multivariate analysis showed that obesity in men was significantly associated with higher odds of falling odds ratio (OR) 1.33 (1.04–1.70) and was not significantly associated with higher odds of fall-related injuries OR 1.10 (0.66–1.84) over a 12-month period compared to normal weight men. For women, obesity was not significantly associated with higher fall prevalence OR 0.99 (0.79–1.25) and fall-related injuries OR 0.71 (0.51–1.00). Conclusion Obesity is associated with self-reported falls, and there appears to be a sex-specific difference in elderly persons.