History of falls, gait, balance, and fall risks in older cancer survivors living in the community

Figures & data

Table 1 Baseline demographic variables between participants who had one or more falls (fallers) and no falls (non-fallers) during the 6-month follow-up period

Characteristic	Fallers	Non-fallers	P-value
Number of participants (n)	23	16	–
Female sex (n)	15	13	0.47
Age (year)	68.8±9.71	67.4±8.46	0.66
Body mass index (Kg/m^2)	29.1±4.43	29.6±6.66	0.81
Number of prescribed medications (n)	6.7±4.40	4.8±3.68	0.14
Functional	2.8±2.00	2.5±1.59	0.57
Comorbidity Index
Time since cancer diagnosis (year)	7.0±5.44	6.11±3.52	0.54
Impaired plantar tactile sensation (n)	5	3	1.00
Cancer treated with chemotherapy (n)	14	6	0.20
Time since completion of chemotherapy (year)	6.2±6.25	5.8±3.84	0.84
Cancer diagnosis (n)
Breast	11	10	–
Prostate	6	1	–
Colon	1	0	–
Thyroid	0	1	–
Stomach	1	1	–
Other	4	3	–

Notes: Values shown are mean ± 1 standard deviation or the number (n) of participants.

Figure 1 Mean (± 1 standard deviation) of the Balance Evaluation Systems Test (BESTest) total score and the sub-scores of the six domains of BESTest in fallers and non-fallers.

Notes: BESTest domains: I, biomechanical constraints; II, stability limits; III, anticipatory postural adjustments; IV, reactive postural response; V, sensory orientation; VI, stability in gait. Scores are as percentages (0%–100%) of the maximum points possible within the entire BESTest for the BESTest total score and within each domain for the BESTest sub-scores.

Table 2 Forward logistic regression model with the outcome of falls during the follow-up as the dependent variable

Predictor in final logistic regression model	Coefficient (SE)	Constant (SE)	Odds ratio (95% CI)	P-value
History of falls in the previous 12 months	1.860 (0.821)	1.918 (0.741)	6.41 (1.28, 32.04)	0.01*

Note:

* P<0.05.

Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; SE, standard error.