@article {10678, title = {Physical Activity and Falls Among a National Cohort of Older Veterans}, journal = {Journal of Applied Gerontology}, volume = {40}, year = {2021}, pages = {310-319}, abstract = {The more than 20 million U.S. veterans have a history of physical activity engagement but face increasing disability as they age. Falls are common among older adults, but there is little evidence on veterans{\textquoteright} fall risk. We conducted a retrospective cohort study using 48,643 observations from 14,831 older (>=65 years) Americans from the 2006{\textendash}2014 waves of the Health and Retirement Study. Veterans reported more noninjurious falls (26.6\% vs. 24.0\%, p < .002), but fewer fall-related injuries (8.9\% vs. 12.3\%, p < .001) than nonveterans. In adjusted analyses, for each 5-year increase in age, the odds of a noninjurious fall were greater for veterans (odds ratio [OR] = 1.05, 95\% confidence interval [CI] = [1.01, 1.10]) and, among those with regular physical activity, the odds were lower for veterans compared with nonveterans (OR = 0.89; 95\% CI = [0.81, 0.99]). For veterans, physical activity engagement may prove a particularly effective mechanism for reducing the aging-related risks associated with falls and fall injuries.}, keywords = {Aging, Disability, Falls, Physical activity, Veterans}, doi = {10.1177/0733464820915807}, author = {Dan Marciniak and Neil B. Alexander and Geoffrey J Hoffman} }