HEALTH DISPARITY IN RISK FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH FALLING. Joshua H. You*1; Evangeline G. Yoder1; Karen Kott1; Carmina Sanchez-del-Valle 1; Dayanand Naik2; Crystal Trammell1; Jason Davis1; Samiat Brown1; Tiana Taylor1; Taniesha Tillar1; Kristi Gaines1 1. Physical Therapy, Hampton University, Hampton, VA; 2. Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA UNIQUE: Falls among elderly adults are a crucial health issue and have a multifaceted and heterogeneous etiology. The important contributing factors associated with the myriad of falls may include: intrinsic, pharmacological, pathophysiological, functional, environmental (architecture barrier), behavioral (personality and health perception), activity-related issues, poverty, unavailability, and accessibility of preventive health and treatment. However, examining the effect of these factors on falls has never been explored as a vehicle to identify and reduce risk of serious falls in elderly African Americans (AA) relative to elderly White Americans (WA). PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to compare risk factors for falling between AA and WA. FOUNDATION: Falls are common, costly, and a leading cause of death among people 65 years and older. There are certain risk factors associated with falling in the elderly adults. These multiple factors include chronic medical diseases, medications (psychoactive); environmental; behavioral; and activity-related issues. More specifically, age-related deteriorations in the sensory system composed of cognitive, auditory, somatosensory, vestibular, visual, musculoskeletal, and neuromuscular subsystems have been reported to contribute to falls. An extensive review of literature related health risk factors seems to suggest that elderly AA are likely to have an increased risk of falls than elderly WA. Despite the important contribution of multifaceted risk factors on falls, no previous studies have investigated risk factors associated with falling in elderly AA. DESCRIPTION: A convenient sample of 56 older adults with a history of falls in past 3 years (30 AA; 26 WA; older than 65 years of age) was recruited from local community centers. All subjects signed the informed consent form prior to their participations. All subjects underwent detailed clinical evaluation, including standardized measures of mental status, sensation, strength, reflex, and balance and gait. Homes for environmental hazards were assessed. The specifically trained research assistants and physical therapists recorded demographic information and assessed the health, environmental, and behavioral issues using the reliable instruments: Demographic information survey, the Medical Outcomes Survey Short Form-36, the Orientation-Memory-Concentration Test (OMCT), the Index of Activities of Daily Living, the Tinetti Balance and Gait Inventory, and Gerontological Environmental Risk Factors (GERF). Descriptive analysis including means and standard deviations were computed on all variables. Next, predisposing factors for falls was determined by log-linear models and analysis of covariance. OBSERVATIONS: Both log-linear models and analysis of covariance revealed no significant differences that distinguished the risk factors associated with falls between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that there were no statistical significant differences in the factors associated with falls between elderly African Americans relative to elderly White Americans. This study invites future research with larger sample sizes that could be possible to increase the generalizability of our findings. FUNDING SOURCE: Hampton University Health Disparities Reduction Project (HU-HDRP) and the National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD). KEYWORDS: HEALTH DISPARITY, RISK FACTORS, FALLS Copyright 2009 by the American Physical Therapy Association. Requests for reprints should be directed to the corresponding author of the article. Educators, students, and other academic customers may receive permission to reprint copyrighted material from Physical Therapy (ISSN 1538-6724) by contacting the Copyright Clearance Center Inc, 222 Rosewood Dr, Danvers, MA 01923. Other types of customers who want permission to reprint should contact the APTA Editorial Office, Attn: Physical Therapy.