Background: The prevalence of geriatric syndromes (falls, immobility,
intellectual or memory impairment, and incontinence) is unknown in
many resource-poor countries. With an aging population such knowledge
is essential to develop national policies on the health and social needs of
older people. The aim of this study was to provide a preliminary survey
to explore the prevalence of falls and other geriatric syndromes and their
association with known risk factors in people aged > 60 years in urban
Blantyre, Malawi.
Methods
This was a cross-sectional, community survey of adults aged > 60 years.
Subjects were recruited at home or in the waiting areas of chronic care
clinics. They were interviewed to complete a questionnaire on ageassociated
syndromes and comorbid problems. The Abbreviated Mental
Test (AMT) and Timed Up and Go (TUG) tests were carried out.
Results
Ninety-eight subjects were studied; 41% reported falling in the past
12 months, 33% of whom (13% of all subjects) were recurrent fallers.
Twenty-five percent reported urine incontinence, 66% self-reported
memory difficulties, and 11% had an AMT score < 7. A history of
falling was significantly associated with urine incontinence (p=0.01), selfreported
memory problems (p=0.004) and AMT score < 7 (p=0.02).
Conclusions
Geriatric syndromes, including falls, appear to be prevalent in older people
in Blantyre, Malawi. Falling is associated with cognitive impairment and
urinary incontinence. There is an urgent need for more understanding of
geriatric problems in this setting to develop national policies on health
and social needs of older people. It is likely that many of the contributory
factors to falls would be amenable to multifactorial interventions similar
to those found to be effective in developed countries.