Perceived neighbourhood environment and falls among community-dwelling adults: cross-sectional and prospective findings from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE)

Giulia Ogliari*, Jesper Ryg, Karen Andersen-Ranberg, Lasse Lybecker Scheel-Hincke, Tahir Masud

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

Abstract

We investigated the association between perceived neighbourhood characteristics and falls in community-dwelling adults, using data from Wave 5 and 6 of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). We included 25,467 participants aged 50 to 103 years (mean age 66.2 ± 9.6, 58.5% women), from fourteen European countries (Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland). At baseline, we recorded individual-level factors (socio-demographic, socio-economic and clinical factors), contextual-level factors (country, urban versus rural area, European region) and perceived neighbourhood characteristics (vandalism or crime, cleanliness, feeling part of neighbourhood, helpful neighbours, accessibility to services) for each participant. We recorded falls in the six months prior to the baseline and 2-year follow-up interviews. The associations between neighbourhood characteristics and falls were analysed by binary logistic regression models; odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) were calculated. Participants reporting-versus not reporting-vandalism or crime had an increased falls risk of 1.16 (1.02–1.31) at follow-up, after full adjustment; lack of cleanliness, feeling part of the neighbourhood, perceiving neighbours as helpful and difficult accessibility to services were not associated with falls. Vandalism or crime was consistently associated with increased falls risks in women, adults without functional impairment and urban areas residents. In conclusion, adverse neighbourhood environments may account for inequality in falls risk among middle-aged and older adults and could be added to fall risk stratification tools.

Original languageEnglish
JournalEuropean Journal of Ageing
Volume19
Issue number4
Pages (from-to)1121-1134
ISSN1613-9372
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2022

Keywords

  • Falls
  • Neighbourhood social cohesiveness
  • Physical disorder
  • Population-based cohort study
  • Safety

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Perceived neighbourhood environment and falls among community-dwelling adults: cross-sectional and prospective findings from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE)'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this