• Shigeyuki Muraki, Toru Akune, Hiroyuki Oka, Yoshio En-Yo, Munehito Yoshida, Kozo Nakamura, Hiroshi Kawaguchi, and Noriko Yoshimura.
• Department of Clinical Motor System Medicine, 22nd Century Medical and Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. murakis-ort@h.u-tokyo.ac.jp
• Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2011 Oct 1;63(10):1425-31.

ObjectiveThere is little information on falls by sex and age strata in Japan, and few factors associated with falls have been established. However, the association between bone and joint diseases and falls remains unclear. We examined prevalence of falls by sex and age strata, determined its association with radiographic osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee and lumbar spine, and determined knee and lower back pain after single and multiple falls.MethodsA questionnaire assessed the number of falls during 12 months preceding baseline. Knee and lumbar spine radiographs were read by Kellgren/Lawrence (K/L) grade; radiographic knee OA and lumbar spondylosis were defined as a K/L grade of 3 or 4. Knee and lower back pain were estimated by an interview.ResultsA total of 587 men and 1,088 women (mean ± SD age 65.3 ± 12.0 years) were analyzed. During 1 year, 79 (13.5%) men and 207 (19.0%) women reported at least 1 fall. With increasing age, the prevalence of multiple falls was higher in women, but lower in elderly men age >60 years. In men, few factors were significantly associated with falls. In women, radiographic knee OA and lumbar spondylosis, as well as knee and lower back pain, were significantly associated with multiple falls without adjustment. Lower back pain and knee pain were independently associated with multiple falls in women after adjustment.ConclusionLower back pain and knee pain were significantly associated with multiple falls in women.Copyright © 2011 by the American College of Rheumatology.

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