Association of Home Falls and Accidents Screening Tool (HOME FAST) with risk of fall in older adults: Ardakan Cohort Study on Ageing (ACSA)

ABSTRACTIntroduction Falls are a significant threat to older adults' health. The home falls and accidents screening tool (HOME FAST) was introduced as a screening tool for identifying hazards inside the home. This study aimed to investigate the ability of this tool to predict older adults at risk of falls.Materials and methods This study analyzed cross-sectional data from the Ardakan Cohort Study on Aging (ACSA) participants. HOME FAST was collected through home visits by interviewers. Fall history during the last 12 months was collected as a self-report. The discrimination was assessed by the receiver operating characteristic curve.Results A total of 4990 adults older than 50 participated in the current study, of which 47.65% were female, and the mean age was 61.5. Among them, 19.9% reported falls during the last year. The mean HOME FAST score was 6.2 for non-fallers, 6.5 for one-time fallers, and 6.4 for multipletime fallers (P = 0.047). The HOME FAST score over the optimal cut-point (five) was not associated with increased fall risk in the multivariate model.Conclusion Based on the findings, the HOME FAST score failed to be a screening tool for falls in the Iranian population. However, further prospective studies are required to investigate this point.KEYWORDS: HOME FASTaccidental fallsolder adultsgeriatricsfalling Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Additional informationFundingThe Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education has contributed to the funding used in the PERSIAN cohorts through grant number 700/151. Furthermore, this work was supported and funded by the University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences.Notes on contributorsAhmad DelbariAhmed Delbari, an associate professor of gerontology, obtained his medical doctorate and subsequently completed a PhD in Clinical Geriatrics and Neuroscience at Karolinska University. Presently, he serves as the head of the Iranian Research Center on Aging and the Department of Aging at the University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, with over 20 years of experience in the field of geriatrics.Amirali AzimiAmirali Azimi is a medical doctor currently pursuing his postdoctoral research. His primary research interests lie in the field of orthopedics and musculoskeletal disorders, with a specific focus on orthogeriatrics. His recent research has predominantly revolved around osteoarthritis and falls, aiming to prevent subsequent complications such as fractures. He has also been actively involved in research related to post-surgical pain management, particularly in orthopedic procedures like joint arthroplasties.Mohammad SaatchiMohammad Saatchi is an assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Science in Tehran. His recently published articles were about social trust, vaccine hesitancy, barriers to vaccination, air pollution, and telerehabilitation.Mohammad BidkhoriMohammad Bidkhori a Ph.D. candidate in epidemiology, conducts research in the field of public health, with a particular focus on older adults. His latest article is "Evaluation of Sleep Quality and Related Factors in Community-Dwelling Adults: Ardakan Cohort Study on Aging (ACSA).Fatemeh-sadat TabatabaeiFatemeh Sadat Tabatabaei is a medical doctor. The primary focus of this researcher's work and publications is in the fields of oncology and neurology. As a postdoctoral researcher at the Iranian Research Center on Aging, she primarily engages in research related to chronic diseases in older adults, such as malignancies, cognitive disorders, and neurological disease complications in this populationVahid RashediDr Vahid Rashedi is an Assistant Professor at the University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences in Tehran, Iran. He holds a Ph.D. in Gerontology, which he earned with honors in 2017, as well as Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Rehabilitation Sciences. Dr. Rashedi is a member of both the Gerontological Society of America (GSA) and the American Psychological Association (APA). His research interests include Gerontology, Mental Health, and Cognition. Since 2019, Dr. Rashedi has served as a Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Collaborator with the Institute for Health Metrics Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington in the United States.Elham HooshmandElham Hooshmand is an MSc in epidemiology and PhD candidate in gerontology. She is the executive supervisor of the Ardakan cohort study on aging.