Application of a World Health Organization 10-minute screening tool in eastern Taiwan-Falls and self-rated health status among community-dwelling elderly

Objectives: Falling is a major health risk facing the elderly. The prevalence of falls is 20.5% among adults older than 65 years in Taiwan. Our study used a geriatric screening tool to identify elderly people at high risk of falls. Materials and Methods: Our study used a 10-minute geriatric screening tool developed by the World Health Organization to survey geriatric health problems and evaluated its effectiveness in a population of elderly Taiwanese. There were 186 participants who were ≥ 65 years old. All participants were interviewed by trained volunteers using the screening tool. Results: The prevalence of falls was 28.3%, depression 13.4%, and urinary incontinence 29.9% in the previous year. Health issues in the elderly associated with a history of falls included depression (p < 0.001), urinary incontinence in the previous year (p = 0.004), and urinary incontinence in the previous week (p = 0.007). Protective factors against falls included the ability to walk fast (p < 0.001), get to places out of walking distance (p < 0.001), and perform heavy work (p < 0.001). The logistic regression analysis revealed that depression was positively correlated with a history of falling (p = 0.023), whereas the ability to walk fast presented a negative correlation (p = 0.015). Conclusion: The World Health Organization 10-minute screening tool can be rapidly and easily implemented in a primary care clinical setting. It can also improve the identification of elderly persons living in the community at high risk of falling.