The prevalence and correlates of fear of falling in elderly persons living in the community.

Arfken, Cynthia L.; Lach, Helen W.; Birge, Stanley J.; Miller, J. Philip

doi:10.2105/ajph.84.4.565

Cited by 597 publications

(548 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Interestingly, and in contrast to older people, 19,20 those who suffered more falls reported significantly less concern. This suggests that many participants may have learnt through experience how to reduce the impact of falls from their wheelchairs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

A Falls Concern Scale for people with spinal cord injury (SCI-FCS)

et al. 2010

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Study design: Observational study and cross-sectional survey. Objectives: To develop a scale assessing concern about falling in people with spinal cord injuries who are dependent on manual wheelchairs, and to evaluate psychometric properties of this new scale. Setting: Community and hospitals, Australia. Methods: The Spinal Cord Injury-Falls Concern Scale (SCI-FCS) was developed in consultation with SCI professionals. The SCI-FCS addressed concern about falling during 16 activities of daily living associated with falling and specific to people with SCI. One hundred and twenty-five people with either acute or chronic SCI who used manual wheelchairs were assessed on the SCI-FCS and asked questions related to their SCI and overall physical abilities. A subgroup of 20 people was reassessed on the SCI-FCS within 7 days. Results: The SCI-FCS had excellent internal and test-retest reliability (Cronbach's a ¼ 0.92, intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) ¼ 0.93). Factor analysis revealed three underlying dimensions of the SCI-FCS addressing concern about falling during activities that limit hand support and require movement of the body's centre of mass. The discriminative ability of the SCI-FCS between different diagnostic groups indicated good construct validity. Subjects with a high level of SCI, few previous falls, dependence in vertical transfers and poor perceived sitting ability demonstrated high levels of concern about falling. Conclusions: This study suggests that the SCI-FCS is a valid and reliable tool for assessing concern about falling in people with SCI dependent on manual wheelchairs. The SCI-FCS could also assist in determining the effectiveness of fall minimization programs.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

A Falls Concern Scale for people with spinal cord injury (SCI-FCS)

et al. 2010

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“…This fear can be protective when the older adult is more careful to avoid risk, but it can also become a risk when it imposes limitations and a lack of self-confidence 7,21 . The fear of falling has been described as independent of a past experience involving falls 25 , and the increase in post-fall fear is more associated with the type of fall than with the fall itself. Salked et al 26 explain that falls resulting in serious injury cause a significant increase in fear; in fact, the HF is considered the main risk factor for the manifestation of fear.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most studies highlight aging as one of the risk factors for the fear of falling on the grounds that advanced age is indicative of a decline in functional reserve and that the perception of these losses can generate a feeling of low selfefficacy and fear of falling 7,[9][10][11][12][13][20][21][22]25,27,29 . Andresen et al 6 did not detect any statistical correlation between aging and HF; they attributed their result to the fact that the population of their cohort study was younger (age 49-65).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalência do medo de cair em uma população de idosos da comunidade e sua correlação com mobilidade, equilíbrio dinâmico, risco e histórico de quedas

Kt¹,

Costa²,

Lf³

et al. 2009

Rev. bras. fisioter.

136

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Objectives: To investigate the prevalence of fear of falling among a population of older adults and its correlation with mobility, dynamic balance, risk and history of falls. Methods: This was a randomized cross-sectional study. The participants were 147 older adults between the ages of 60 and 92: 94 women (65.95%) and 53 men (36.05%). Fear of falling was assessed using FES-I-BRAZIL (FIB); mobility, using the "timed up and go" (TUG) test; risk of falls, using the "functional reach test" (FRT); and dynamic balance, using the "tandem gait test"(TGT). Results: One hundred and thirty-three older adults (90.48%) reported fear of falling in at least one activity and 80 older adults (54.42%) had a history of falls (HF). Pearson's correlation was statistically significant (p<0.001) between fear of falling and the TGT (r=-0.44248), FRT (r=-0.51562), HF (r=0.54069), TUG (r=0.45738) and age (r=0.39772). Conclusions: The present study identified high prevalence of fear of falling among older adults in the community, independent of their history of falls, and significant correlations between fear of falling and mobility, dynamic balance, risk and history of falls.Key words: fear of falling; accidents due to falls; older adult; mobility limitation; musculoskeletal balance. ResumoObjetivos: Investigar a prevalência do medo de cair em uma população de idosos da comunidade e sua correlação com mobilidade,

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“…FOF may lead to a reduction or restriction of functional activities [3][4][5][6] and is associated with adverse outcomes such as falls 3,4 , functional decline 5 and depression 7,8 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Activity restriction due to fear of falling when present in excessive level, may provide loss of independence for reducing the social interaction, which in turn lead to physical inactivity and reduced quality of life 4,5,7,9 . Activity restriction is a predictor of falls, possibly because of the unchaining decline of muscle function, physical deconditioning, balance and gait desorders 3,10 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%