TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2018//
TI  - Fear of falling predicts incidence of functional disability two years later: a perspective from an international cohort study
JO  - Journals of gerontology. Series A: Biological sciences and medical sciences
A1  - Auais, Mohammad
A1  - French, Simon
A1  - Alvarado, Beatriz
A1  - Pirkle, Catherine
A1  - Belanger, Emmanuelle
A1  - Guralnik, Jack
SP  - 1212
EP  - 1215
VL  - 73
IS  - 9
N2  - OBJECTIVE: To study the extent to which fear of falling (FOF) is associated with the onset of functional disability over a 2-year period in older adults using self-reported and performance-based measures. <br><br>METHODS: In 2012, 1,601 participants (aged 65-74) were recruited from four sites: Kingston and Saint-Hyacinthe, Canada; Manizales, Colombia; and Natal, Brazil. They were re-assessed in 2014. We quantified FOF using the Fall Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I; range: 16-64). Functional disability measures were 1) self-reported incident mobility disability, defined as difficulty climbing a flight of stairs or walking 400 meters and 2) incident poor physical performance, defined as a score <9 on the Short Physical Performance Battery. In the Poisson regression analysis, we included only those participants without functional disability at baseline to calculate incident risk ratios in 2014. <br><br>RESULTS: 1,355 participants completed the 2014 assessment, of which 917 and 1,078 had no mobility disability and poor physical performance at baseline, respectively. In 2014, 131 (14.3%), and 166 (15.4%) participants reported incident mobility disability and poor physical performance, respectively. After adjusting for age, sex, socioeconomic, and health covariates, a one-point increase in FES-I at baseline was associated with a 4% increase in the risk of reporting incident mobility disability (95% CI: 1.02-1.05) and a 3% increase in the risk of developing poor physical performance at follow up in the overall sample (95%CI: 1.01-1.05). <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: FOF is associated with a higher risk of incident mobility disability and poor physical performance in a cohort of older adults. It is increasingly important to study FOF's effect on functional disability and to take necessary measures to prevent the transition to end-stage disability.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1079-5006
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glx237
ID  - ref1
ER  -