relationship between sleep quality and falls among elderly people in amirkola, northern of iran

Background: aging is considered a biological, natural, and inevitable phenomenon that is associated withcommon problems of sleep quality and falls. the aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship betweensleep quality and falls among the elders of amirkola.methods: in this case-control study, 250 elders, who were exposed to the falling, and 500 people withoutthe previous falling were randomly selected during 2016-2017. the data were collected according todemographic and pittsburgh sleep quality index (psqi) questionnaires.results: there was a significant relationship between sleep quality and falling, while no significantrelationship was found between demographic characteristics (e.g., gender, marital situation, age, educationallevel, occupation, and satisfaction of income) and falling. the mean of chronic diseases was 3.65 ± 2.29and 4.38 ± 2.75 in control and case groups, respectively (p = 0.0001). a significant difference was foundbetween the two groups regarding the number of falls during the last 12 months (p = 0.0001). there was asignificant positive correlation between the score of poor sleep quality and the number of chronic diseases(p = 0.001, r = 0.352), the number of falls during the last 12 months (p = 0.001, r = 0.137), and the numberof falling during the last 12 months with the number of chronic diseases (p = 0.001, r = 0.208). there wasa significant negative correlation between poor quality sleep with the score of physical activity (p = 0.001,r = -0.166) and the number of chronic diseases with the physical activity score (p = 0.001, r = -0.259). afteradjusting the other variables, the number of chronic diseases (p = 0.002, or = 1.114) and history of smoking(p = 0.018, or = 1.678) were the most effective factors of falling. finally, a direct positive correlation wasobserved between the total scores of sleep quality and falling in terms of gender in the older woman ofamirkola (p = 0.001, or = 2.080).conclusion: awareness of the factors of falls can help develop prevention strategies and appropriate healthservices.