Fear of falling and associated factors among patients with peripheral vestibular hypofunction

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate the fear of falling and its associated factors among patients with vestibular hypofunction. We conducted a cross-sectional survey using structured questionnaires to evaluate fear of falling and activities of daily living among participants. Vestibular function was assessed via a rotary chair test. This study was conducted from January through March 2018. The subjects were 167 individuals older than 20 years who agreed to participate in this study. Data were analyzed using SPSS ver. 22.0. The significant variables associated with fear of falling were gender (P= 0.012), age (P< 0.001), marital status (P= 0.006), living alone (P= 0.020), having a job (P< 0.001), frequency of dizziness (P= 0.007), use of antivertigo medication (P< 0.001), and history of falling (P< 0.001). Fear of falling showed statistically significant positive correlations with activities of daily living (r= 0.82, P< 0.001) and dizziness (r = 0.61, P< 0.001). In the multiple regression analysis, age, gender, history of falling, and severity of dizziness explained 53.4% of the variance in fear of falling. The results of this study demonstrate that thoroughly assessing predictors making an impact on fear of falling in the initial assessment and the level of fear of falling needs to be addressed early to prevent sedentary behavior.

Predictors of Dizziness and Hearing Disorders in People with Long COVID

“…Fear of falling has been found to be associated with dizziness in older adults [46]. Another study found that the severity of dizziness was one of the predictors of fear of falling even in younger adults who suffer from peripheral vestibular hypofunction [47]. Consequently, the current finding of a substantial relationship between fear of falling and perceived dizziness as persistent symptoms of long COVID in younger adults highlights the similarity between dizziness as a symptom of vestibular disorders and fear of falling.…”

The Adaptation of Participation Scale Short Simplified Questionnaire into Indonesian Language and the Psychometric Properties in Individuals with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus with Vestibular Dysfunction

“…The T2DM patients were reported to have limited social engagement [ 52 ] and might be partly associated with the complications of VD. The impact of VD symptoms itself has been clearly known to restrict the participations, such as travelling, getting together with the community, having fun, and else to avoid the fear of provoking the dizziness or vertigo symptoms [ 53 ]. However, the participation restriction specifically in T2DM patients with VD is not much explored recently.…”

“…Therefore, the results of this test could determine the severe participation restriction in participants with positive vestibular dysfunction test. The patients with vestibular disorder usually have poor balance, high risk to fall, and fear of falling which consequently impacting the level of social participation [ 7 , 53 ].…”

Remote assessment and management of patients with dizziness: development, validation, and feasibility of a gamified vestibular rehabilitation therapy platform

“…Vestibular deficits increase with age with one-third of those over the age of 79 demonstrating unilateral and bilateral vestibular hypofunction compared to 2.4% in adults younger than 48 years ( 1 ). This is especially concerning because vestibular hypofunction is associated with reduced quality of life, poorer health, and falls which may lead to injury, fear of falling, anxiety and depression ( 1 – 3 ). There is strong evidence in support of vestibular rehabilitation therapy (VRT) to treat dizziness related to peripheral vestibular disorders ( 4 ) and emerging evidence in support of VRT for dizziness related to central vestibular disorders ( 5 , 6 ).…”