ORs were generally higher for recurrent fallers than for all fallers .
This meta- analysis provides comprehensive evidence -based assessment of risk factors for falls in older people , confirming their multifactorial etiology .
Some nonspecific indicators of high baseline risk were also strong predictors of the risk of falling
BACKGROUND Falls are the main cause of accidental death in persons aged 65 years or older .
Poor vision accompanied with other sensory impairments as a predictor of falls in older women.
OBJECTIVES we studied visual acuity ( VA ) and co-existing hearing impairment and poor st and ing balance as predictors of falls . DESIGN prospect i ve study with 1-year follow-up . SETTING research laboratory and residential environment . PARTICIPANTS 428 women aged 63 - 76 years from the Finnish Twin Study on Aging . MEASUREMENTS participants were followed up for incidence of falls over 1 year .  VA , hearing ability and st and ing balance  were assessed at the baseline . The incidence rate ratios ( IRR ) for falls were computed using the negative binomial regression model . RESULTS during the follow-up , 47 % of participants experienced a fall . After adjusting for age and interdependence of twin sisters , participants with vision impairment ( VA of < 1.0 ) but no other sensory impairments had a higher , but non-significant , risk for falls compared to persons with normal vision ( IRR 1.5 , 95 % CI 0.6 - 4.2 ) . Co-existing vision impairment and impaired balance increased the risk ( IRR 2.7 , 95 % CI 0.9 - 8.0 ) , as also did co-existing vision and hearing impairment ( IRR 4.2 , 95 % CI 1.5 - 11.3 ) , compared to those with normal vision . Among persons with all three impairments , the IRR for falls increased to 29.4 ( 95 % CI 5.8 - 148.3 ) compared to participants with good vision . CONCLUSION the impact of vision impairment on fall risk was higher when accompanied with other sensory and balance impairments , probably because the presence of other impairments prevented the reception of compensatory information about body posture and environment being received from other sensory sources . When aim ing to prevent falls and their consequences in older people , it is important to check whether poor vision is accompanied with other impairments
ORs were generally higher for recurrent fallers than for all fallers .
This meta- analysis provides comprehensive evidence -based assessment of risk factors for falls in older people , confirming their multifactorial etiology .
Some nonspecific indicators of high baseline risk were also strong predictors of the risk of falling
BACKGROUND Falls are the main cause of accidental death in persons aged 65 years or older .