Delayed initial recovery and long lie after a fall among middle-aged and older people with multiple sclerosis

Objectives: To determine (1) the prevalence of lying on the floor or ground for ≥10 minutes (delayed initial recovery [IR]) and for >1 hour (long lie) after a fall; and (2) the factors associated with delayed IR among people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS).

Design: A secondary analysis of data available from a national, cross-sectional descriptive study of PwMS. Information regarding postfall experiences was extracted from open-ended questions about participants' most recent fall.

Setting: Community.

Participants: PwMS (N=700) aged ≥55 years were recruited from the North America Committee on Multiple Sclerosis Registry; 354 of them completed the interview, and 322 provided a fall story that included information regarding postfall experiences.

Intervention: Not applicable.

Main outcome measures: Participants' self-reports regarding time lying on the floor or ground after their most recent fall were used to determine delayed IR and long lie.

Results: A total of 89 (27.6%) of 322 fallers reported delayed IR; 15 (4.7%) of them reported a long lie. Logistic regression analysis revealed 5 factors associated with delayed IR: longer disease duration (odds ratio [OR]=1.03; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.00-1.05), fall leading to a fracture (OR=2.73; 95% CI, 1.11-6.72), received help to get up (OR=3.94; 95% CI, 2.07-7.50), depression (OR=1.96; 95% CI, 1.10-3.49), and leg weakness (OR=2.14; 95% CI, 1.13-4.03). No significant differences were found between fallers who reported a long lie and those who reported a delayed IR.

Conclusions: The findings suggest that while delayed IR is common, long lies are not prevalent among PwMS. The high prevalence of delayed IR highlights the importance of including fall management strategies in fall prevention programs for PwMS.