Objective: To identify fall history and characteristics, as well as home environment risk factors, using a self-administered questionnaire.

Background: Falls are a major source of disability in Parkinson’s disease (PD) with the majority occurring in home. Identifying the environmental risks and creating a safer home environment may help minimise PD-related falls and injury.

Method: Fifty patients were interviewed at an outpatient clinic and completed a questionnaire to identify potential hazards at home. Three sections were categorized including patient demographics, fall characteristics, and environmental hazards at home.

Results: From 50 patients recruited, 31 (62%) were male. The mean age was 68.6 years (SD 7.2) and mean of disease duration was 9.2 years (SD 6.2). More than seventy percent of participants had fallen at least once. The most common locations were living room (50%), toilet (27.8%) and bedroom (25%). Time spent at a location correlated with higher frequency of falls (Table 1). Falls occurred primarily during daytime (61.7 %) and involved changing positions (34.7 %). Other concerns included unsuitable seat height (48%), inappropriate carpet location (38%), unsuitable bed height (24%), messy house (18%), and poor lighting (6%). Patients with a previous fall had, more bed rails and toilet rails, installed in their homes compared to patients with no fall (p<0.05, each). Almost sixty percent of patients were interested in a home adaptation project.

Conclusion: With insight into possible home hazards and falls risk, this study offers valuable information for falls prevention. Falls risk is not limited to gait and balance issues, but also influenced by surroundings, especially at home. Therefore, gaining basic information about patients’ homes may point to a potential strategy for falls prevention amongst PD patients.

References: [1] Ashburn A, Stack E, Ballinger C, Fazakarley L, Fitton C. The circumstances of falls among people with Parkinson’s disease and the use of Falls Diaries to facilitate reporting. Disability and Rehabilitation. 2008;30(16):1205-12. [2] Mak MKY, Pang MYC. Parkinsonian single fallers versus recurrent fallers: different fall characteristics and clinical features. Journal of Neurology. 2010;257(9):1543-51. [3] Matinolli M, Korpelainen JT, Korpelainen R, Sotaniemi KA, Virranniemi M, Myllylä VV. Postural sway and falls in Parkinson’s disease: A regression approach. Movement Disorders. 2007;22(13):1927-35.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/impact-of-the-home-environment-on-falls-risk-a-cross-sectional-study-of-patients-with-parkinsons-disease/