Association between fear of falling and self‐care behaviours of older people with hypertension

Abstract

Aim This study investigated the association between fear of falling and self‐care behaviours of older people with hypertension. Design A cross‐sectional study. Methods This study was conducted in 2019 on 301 older people with hypertension above the age of 60 years in Tehran, Iran. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire, the Persian Falls Efficacy Scale‐International, and a hypertension‐related self‐care behaviour questionnaire. Results Analyses revealed that gender, educational level and history of falling were significant factors associated with fear of falling; and marital status, educational level and income source were significant factors associated with self‐care behaviours ( p < 0.05). Partial correlations controlling for education revealed a significant positive correlation showing that high fear of falling is associated with worse health promotion self‐care behaviours and significant inverse correlations with psycho‐emotional, social and daily self‐care behaviours ( p < 0.05), meaning that high fear of falling is associated with better self‐care for these dimensions. Patient or Public Contribution This study involved patients in order to evaluate the validity and reliability of the questionnaires. The study was conducted on older people with hypertension referred to hypertension clinics in hospitals.