Incidence of home accidents in 65 years of age and older individuals and related factors

Introduction: This study aims to investigate the incidence and related factors of home accidents in old individuals living at home. Materials and Method: 1185 individuals aged 65 years and above, living in Niğde Province city centre participated in this sectional study. The data were collected through a survey form prepared by the researcher after literature review, Activities of Daily Living Assessment Form and Instrumental Daily Life Activities Form of Lawton and Brody. Chi-Square and logistic regression analysis were used for assessing the data. Results: Mean age of participants was 71.1±6.1 years, and incidence of home accidents within the past year was 20.3%. The most common accident types were falls (75.8%), cuts and injuries (12.1%) and burns (8.8%). Accidents occurred frequently in winter and in bedrooms or living rooms. In terms of underlying causes for home accidents, primary individual factors were loss of balance and lack of attention, while domestic risk factors were wet floor and tripping. Women and the people who were independent of the majority of basic Activities of Daily Living (ADL) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) suffered more home accidents. Conclusion: More than a third of the old people, who had home accidents, experienced them twice or more within the past year. This indicates that home accidents have not been given sufficient attention. It is believed that adjusting home conditions of old people to prevent accidents and training them as well as their caregivers about home accidents can decrease such incidences.