Kidney function and other factors and their association with falls updates The screening for CKD among older people across Europe (SCOPE) study

Abstract

Background: Reduced kidney function has become a major public health concern, especially among older people, as Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is associated with increased risk of end stage renal disease and mortality. Falls are a serious negative health outcome in older persons with one third of people aged 65 years experiencing a fall per year and increasing fall rates with increasing age. The impact of CKD on falls in older community-dwelling persons is not well investigated. Additionally, lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) may also increase the risk of falls. Therefore, our aim was to investigate the impact of CKD and LUTS on falls as well as on injurious falls. Methods: The SCOPE study is an observational, multinational, multicenter, prospective cohort study involving communitydwelling older persons aged 75 years and more recruited from August 2016 to March 2018 in seven European countries. The main outcomes of the present study were any falls and any injurious falls during the 12 months before enrolment The cross-sectional association of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and LUIS with study outcomes was investigated by logistic regression analysis adjusted for baseline characteristics of enrolled subjects. Results: Our series consisted of 2256 SCOPE participants (median age = 795 years, 55.7% female). Of them, 746 participants experienced a fall and 484 reported an injurious fall in the 12 months prior to baseline assessment CKD was not significantly associated with falls (OR = 0.95, 95%CI = 0.79-1.14 for eGFR< 60; OR = 1.02, 95%CI = 0.81-128 for eGFR< 45; OR = 1.08, 95%CI = 0.74-1.57 for eGFR< 30) or injurious falls (OR = 0.91, 95%CI = 0.67-124 for eGFR< 60; OR = 0.93, 95%CI = 0.63-137 for eGFR< 45; OR = 1.19, 95%CI = 0.62-2.29 for eGFR< 30). LUTS were found significantly associated with both falls (OR = 156, 95960 =129-1.89) and injurious falls (OR = 158, 95%0 =1.14-2.19), and such associations were confirmed in all multivariable models. Conclusions: Cross-sectional data suggest that CKD may not be associated with history of falls or injurious falls, whereas LUTS is significantly associated with the outcomes.