ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS IN THE HOMES OF OLDER-PEOPLE

Objectives: to investigate (i) the prevalence of environmental safety hazards in the homes of people aged 70 years and over, (ii) their know ledge of causes of injuries to older people and the safety measures th ey can implement to prevent such injuries and (iii) the relationship b etween socio-demographic characteristics of this population group and levels of home environmental hazards. Method: a cross-sectional survey of 425 people aged 70 years and older living in a defined geographica l area of Australia. Participants were recruited through their general practitioners. A structured interview completed with each participant included questions on demographics and home safety issues. A home saf ety inspection was also undertaken using a predetermined rating format . Results: 80% (n = 342) of homes inspected had at least one hazard an d 39% (n = 164) had >5 hazards. The bathroom was identified as the mos t hazardous room, with 66% (n = 279) of bathrooms having at least one hazard. Hazards relating to floor surfaces (62% of homes had one 'floo ring' hazard) and absence of appropriate grab or handrails (60% of hom es had one or more hazards relating to this) were prevalent. Eighty-ei ght percent (n = 374) of older people were able to identify falls as t he most common cause of injury and 87% (n = 368) were able to accurate ly name at least one safety measure. Although a significant associatio n was found between the older people's self-assessment of their home's safety and the presence of more than 5 hazards, 30% of those rating t heir homes as very safe (n = 289) had more than 5 hazards. Logistic re gression analysis identified one variable - contact with healthcare se rvice providers-as predictive of the hazard lever in older people's ho mes. Older people who were never visited by service providers were twi ce as likely to have more than 5 hazards as those who were visited wee kly or more often (OR 2.12, 95% CI 1.104, 4.088). Conclusion: many old er people are living in potentially hazardous environments. As yet, a causal link between the presence of environmental hazards and falls in older people has not been established. More definitive work in this a rea needs to be carried out.