IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v14y2017i2p163-d89731.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Neighborhood Factors and Fall-Related Injuries among Older Adults Seen by Emergency Medical Service Providers

Author

Listed:
  • Sungmin Lee

    (Department of Landscape Architecture & Urban Planning, College of Architecture, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA)

  • Chanam Lee

    (Department of Landscape Architecture & Urban Planning, College of Architecture, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA)

  • Susan Rodiek

    (Department of Architecture, College of Architecture, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA)

Abstract

Falls are serious health problems among older adults, and are the leading cause of fatal and nonfatal injuries treated by emergency medical services (EMS). Although considerable research has examined the risk factors of falls at the individual level, relatively few studies have addressed the risk factors at the neighborhood level. This study examines the characteristics of neighborhood environments associated with fall injuries reported to EMS providers. A total of 13,163 EMS records from 2011 to 2014 involving adults aged 65 and older in the city of San Antonio (TX, USA) were analyzed at the census tract level (n = 264). Negative binomial regression was used to identify significant census tract-based neighborhood environmental variables associated with the count of fall injuries in each census tract. Adjusting for exposure variable and the size of the census tract, neighborhoods with higher residential stability, captured as the percent of those who lived in the same house as the previous year were associated with decreased count of fall injuries. Neighborhoods with higher residential density and having a higher vacancy rate were associated with increased count of fall injuries. The study highlights the importance of stable and safe neighborhoods in reducing fall risks among older adults, which should be considered a prerequisite for promoting age-friendly environments.

Suggested Citation

  • Sungmin Lee & Chanam Lee & Susan Rodiek, 2017. "Neighborhood Factors and Fall-Related Injuries among Older Adults Seen by Emergency Medical Service Providers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-13, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:14:y:2017:i:2:p:163-:d:89731
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/14/2/163/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/14/2/163/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. John R. Beard & Shannon Blaney & Magda Cerda & Victoria Frye & Gina S. Lovasi & Danielle Ompad & Andrew Rundle & David Vlahov, 2009. "Neighborhood Characteristics and Disability in Older Adults," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 64(2), pages 252-257.
    2. Krieger, J. & Higgins, D.L., 2002. "Housing and health: Time again for public health action," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 92(5), pages 758-768.
    3. Li, W. & Keegan, T.H.M. & Sternfeld, B. & Sidney, S. & Quesenberry Jr., C.P. & Kelsey, J.L., 2006. "Outdoor falls among middle-aged and older adults: A neglected public health problem," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 96(7), pages 1192-1200.
    4. Frank C Curriero & Martin Kulldorff & Francis P Boscoe & Ann C Klassen, 2010. "Using Imputation to Provide Location Information for Nongeocoded Addresses," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 5(2), pages 1-10, February.
    5. Diez Roux, A.V., 2001. "Investigating neighborhood and area effects on health," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 91(11), pages 1783-1789.
    6. Foros, Oystein, 2004. "Strategic investments with spillovers, vertical integration and foreclosure in the broadband access market," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 1-24, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Marcia G. Ory & Matthew Lee Smith, 2017. "What If Healthy Aging Is the ‘New Normal’?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-5, November.
    2. Jennifer Jurado Severance & Solymar Rivera & Jinmyoung Cho & Jessica Hartos & Amal Khan & Janice Knebl, 2022. "A Collaborative Implementation Strategy to Increase Falls Prevention Training Using the Age-Friendly Health Systems Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-11, May.
    3. Sungmin Lee & Chanam Lee & Marcia G. Ory, 2019. "Association between Recent Falls and Changes in Outdoor Environments near Community-Dwelling Older Adults’ Homes over Time: Findings from the NHATS Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-12, September.
    4. Jie Li & Floris Goerlandt & Kai Way Li, 2019. "Slip and Fall Incidents at Work: A Visual Analytics Analysis of the Research Domain," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-18, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Arline Geronimus & John Bound & Annie Ro, 2014. "Residential Mobility Across Local Areas in the United States and the Geographic Distribution of the Healthy Population," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(3), pages 777-809, June.
    2. Masoud SAFAEE POUR & Said MALEKI & Hoseen HATAMINEJAD & Masoud MODANLOU, 2017. "Evaluation of City Prosperity Index in Iranian-Islamic Cities: A Case Study of Ahvaz Metropolis," Chinese Journal of Urban and Environmental Studies (CJUES), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 5(04), pages 1-21, December.
    3. Kaylee Ramage & Meaghan Bell & Lisa Zaretsky & Laura Lee & Katrina Milaney, 2021. "Is the Right to Housing Being Realized in Canada? Learning from the Experiences of Tenants in Affordable Housing Units in a Large Canadian City," Societies, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-9, June.
    4. Olsen, Jonathan R. & Thornton, Lukar & Tregonning, Grant & Mitchell, Richard, 2022. "Nationwide equity assessment of the 20-min neighbourhood in the scottish context: A socio-spatial proximity analysis of residential locations," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 315(C).
    5. Chen, Duan-Rung & Wen, Tzai-Hung, 2010. "Socio-spatial patterns of neighborhood effects on adult obesity in Taiwan: A multi-level model," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(6), pages 823-833, March.
    6. McNeill, Lorna Haughton & Kreuter, Matthew W. & Subramanian, S.V., 2006. "Social Environment and Physical activity: A review of concepts and evidence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(4), pages 1011-1022, August.
    7. Judith Schröder & Susanne Moebus & Julita Skodra, 2022. "Selected Research Issues of Urban Public Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-28, May.
    8. Juan Pablo Díaz-Sánchez & Moisés Obaco & Javier Romaní, 2022. "Measuring Overcrowding in Households with Children: Official vs. Actual Thresholds in the Ecuadorian Case," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 15(2), pages 383-398, April.
    9. Eleonore M Veldhuizen & Karien Stronks & Anton E Kunst, 2013. "Assessing Associations between Socio-Economic Environment and Self-Reported Health in Amsterdam Using Bespoke Environments," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(7), pages 1-10, July.
    10. Agee, Mark D. & Atkinson, Scott E. & Crocker, Thomas D., 2010. "The Effects of Children's Time Use and Home and Neighborhood Quality on their Body Weight and Cognitive/Behavioral Development," 2010 Annual Meeting, July 25-27, 2010, Denver, Colorado 91713, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    11. Völker, Sebastian & Kistemann, Thomas, 2013. "Reprint of: “I'm always entirely happy when I'm here!” Urban blue enhancing human health and well-being in Cologne and Düsseldorf, Germany," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 141-152.
    12. Stefan Angel & Benjamin Bittschi, 2019. "Housing and Health," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 65(3), pages 495-513, September.
    13. Ana Moradell & Irene Rodríguez-Gómez & Ángel Iván Fernández-García & David Navarrete-Villanueva & Jorge Marín-Puyalto & Jorge Pérez-Gómez & José Gerardo Villa-Vicente & Marcela González-Gross & Ignaci, 2021. "Associations between Daily Movement Distribution, Bone Structure, Falls, and Fractures in Older Adults: A Compositional Data Analysis Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-15, April.
    14. Kendrick, Denise & Mulvaney, Caroline & Burton, Paul & Watson, Michael, 2005. "Relationships between child, family and neighbourhood characteristics and childhood injury: A cohort study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(9), pages 1905-1915, November.
    15. Erica Ann Felker-Kantor & Colette Cunningham-Myrie & Lisa-Gaye Greene & Parris Lyew-Ayee & Uki Atkinson & Wendel Abel & Pernell Clarke & Simon G Anderson & Katherine P Theall, 2019. "Neighborhood crime, disorder and substance use in the Caribbean context: Jamaica National Drug Use Prevalence Survey 2016," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(11), pages 1-15, November.
    16. Quinonez, Pablo, 2022. "Social spending and income inequality in Latin America. A panel data approach," MPRA Paper 113538, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Yang Xiao & Siyu Miao & Chinmoy Sarkar & Huizhi Geng & Yi Lu, 2018. "Exploring the Impacts of Housing Condition on Migrants’ Mental Health in Nanxiang, Shanghai: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-14, January.
    18. Briglauer, Wolfgang & Gugler, Klaus & Haxhimusa, Adhurim, 2016. "Facility- and service-based competition and investment in fixed broadband networks: Lessons from a decade of access regulations in the European Union member states," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(8), pages 729-742.
    19. Luana Rocha & Daniela Canella & Raquel Canuto & Mariana Jardim & Letícia Cardoso & Amelia Friche & Larissa Mendes, 2024. "Conceptual Model on Access to Food in the Favela Food Environment," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(11), pages 1-14, October.
    20. Clarke, Christina A. & Miller, Tim & Chang, Ellen T. & Yin, Daixin & Cockburn, Myles & Gomez, Scarlett L., 2010. "Racial and social class gradients in life expectancy in contemporary California," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(9), pages 1373-1380, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:14:y:2017:i:2:p:163-:d:89731. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.