Falls in young adults: The effect of sex, physical activity, and prescription medications

Abstract

Falls are a major public health issue not only for older adults but also young adults, with fall-related injuries occurring more frequently in adult females than males. However, the sex differences in the frequency and circumstances of falls in young adults are understudied. This research quantified the frequency and circumstances of falls as a function of sex, physical activity, and prescription medications in young adults. For 16 weeks, young adult participants (N = 325; 89 males; 19.9±1.1 years) responded to a daily email asking if they had slipped, tripped, or fallen in the past 24 hours. Falls and fall-related injuries were not uncommon in young adults: 48% fell at least once, 25% fell more than once, and 10% reported an injury. The most common activities at the time of the fall for females were walking (44%) and sports (33%), and for males, sports (49%) and walking (37%). A zero-inflated Poisson model revealed that higher number of falls were associated with the following: higher levels of physical activity (p = 0.025), higher numbers of medications (p<0.0001), and being male (p = 0.008). Regarding circumstances of falling, females were more likely to be talking to a friend at the time of the fall (OR (95% CI): 0.35 (0.14–0.73); p = 0.01). For slips and trips without a fall, males and females reported the same number of slips (OR (95% CI): 0.885 (0.638–1.227) p = 0.46), but females reported more trips (OR (95% CI): 0.45 (0.30–0.67); p<0.01). Only females reported serious injuries such as concussion and fracture. In conclusion, the rate of falls in young adults was affected by physical activity levels, number of medications, and sex. Quantifying and understanding these differences leads to increased knowledge of falls across the lifespan and is instrumental in developing interventions to prevent falls.