This paper analyses data pertaining to falls from a 1995 random survey of 1,285 seniors living in the Capital Regional District of British Columbia. In the preceding six months, 211 (16.5%) people reported falling at least once. The overall rate for women was 18.6 per hundred compared with 13.3 for men. The study also examined relationships between falling and an array of demographic, health, psychological and psychosocial variables. The likelihood of falling increased directly with age and chronic illness, as well as indirectly with age, SES, and gender via chronic illness (i.e. older, poorer women tend to have more chronic illness which then leads to a higher incidence of falling). In turn, falling was directly related to increased dependence, and through it indirectly related to health satisfaction, mental health and a measure of life satisfaction.
