Objective To investigate the incidence and influencing factors of falls in the elderly of Jilin province and provide a scientific basis for further prevention and control of falls among the elderly.

Methods From July to December 2022, 800 permanent residents aged ≥ 60 years old were selected by multi-stage stratified random sampling from Nanguan district of Changchun city, Xi′an district of Liaoyuan city, Antu county of Yanbian prefecture, and Lishu county of Siping city in Jilin province. The main influencing factors of falls in the elderly in this area were analyzed by multivariate logistic regression.

Results  Among the 800 permanent residents aged ≥ 60 years old in Jilin province, 166 fell in the past year, and thus the incidence of falls was 20.75%. The results of multivariate logistic regression showed that age ≥ 80 years old (OR = 2.555, 95%CI: 1.390–4.659), residence in rural areas (OR = 1.685, 95%CI: 1.048–2.710), cerebrovascular disease self-reported (OR = 1.947, 95%CI: 1.262–3.004), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease self-reported (OR = 1.815, 95%CI: 1.009–3.263) and osteoarthritis self-reported (OR = 1.783, 95%CI: 1.153–2.759) were more likely to fall. Those exercising regularly (OR = 0.641, 95%CI: 0.423–0.970), self-assessing general health condition (OR = 0.292, 95%CI: 0.184–0.464) or good health conditions (OR = 0.149, 95%CI: 0.080–0.276) were not likely to fall.

Conclusion The incidence of falls is high among the elderly in Jilin province. Age, place of residence, regular physical exercise, self-assessment of health status, and whether suffering from cerebrovascular diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or osteoarthritis are the main influencing factors of falls among the elderly in this area.