ABSTRACT
Objective
Adults with heart failure (HF) may be at high risk for falling due to age, comorbidities
and frailty; however, few studies have examined falls in HF. The purpose of this study
was to quantify the frequency and predictors of falls over 1 year among adults with
HF.
Methods
We conducted a prospective study of adults with New York Heart Association (NYHA)
functional class I–IV HF. After baseline assessment of physical frailty and clinical
characteristics, participants self-reported falls every 3 months during 1 year. Comparative
statistics were used to identify baseline differences between those who fell vs those
who did not. A stepwise negative binomial regression model was used to identify predictors
of fall rate over 1 year.
Results
The sample (n = 111) was 63.4 ± 15.7 years old, 48% were women, 28% had HF with preserved
ejection fraction, and 41% were frail. Over 1 year, 43 (39%) of participants reported
at least 1 fall and 28 (25%) of participants reported 2+ falls. Among those who fell,
29 (67%) reported injurious falls. Those who fell had significantly higher body mass
indexes and were more likely to have NYHA class III/IV, type 2 diabetes and HF with
preserved ejection fraction and to meet slowness and physical exhaustion criteria
than those who did not fall. The fall rate was elevated among those with type 2 diabetes
and those meeting the slowness and physical exhaustion criteria for physical frailty.
Conclusions
Nearly 40% of adults with HF experienced a fall within 1 year. Screening for comorbidities,
slowness and exhaustion may help to identify those at risk for a fall.
Graphical Abstract
Graphical Abstract
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: October 11, 2022
Accepted:
September 22,
2022
Received:
September 22,
2022
Footnotes
Tweet: Your patient w/ #HeartFailure may be falling more than you know. Out of 111 pts, 40% experienced 1+ falls, and 25% experienced 2+ falls over one year. Baseline predictors of falls: #Diabetes, slow gait, & fatigue.
Identification
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