Overactive Bladder significantly associated with falls in Older Adults

It was a prospective cohort study of 630 community-dwelling, independent older adults of 75 years old or older who attended a health checkup in 2017 with a 1-year follow-up. Researchers used logistic regression models to assess the association between the overactive bladder (dry and wet) with a fall history, and future fall risk compared to no overactive bladder. They also used random forest and decision tree approach to examine the contribution of the overactive bladder as a predictor of falls.

Key findings of the study were:

• At baseline, the researchers noted that the prevalence of overactive bladder dry and overactive bladder wet was 15% and 14%, respectively.
• Upon multivariable logistic regression analysis, they found that both overactive bladder dry and overactive bladder wet were associated with a higher likelihood of prior falls (adjusted ORs vs no overactive bladder 2.03 and 2.21).
• They also found that the odds of a future fall within one year among the 363 participants without a fall history were 2.7- and 1.4-fold higher with OAB dry and wet, respectively.
• The tree-based model confirmed that overactive bladder was an important predictor of falls in adults without a fall history with 83.6% accuracy and 81.8% AUC.

The authors concluded, "Overactive bladder, even in the absence of urgency incontinence, is an important predictor of falls in older adults with a low absolute fall risk."

For further information:

https://www.auajournals.org/doi/10.1097/JU.0000000000001344