Life Space Assessment and Falls in Older Adults with Multiple Sclerosis

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 = .69, p = .012, 95%CI = .51 to .92). Stratified analyses revealed that this association was significant in progressive (OR = .57, p = .004, 95%CI = .39 to .84), but not relapsing-remitting (OR = .93, p = .779, 95%CI = .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.