TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2017//
TI  - Fear of falling and associated variables in community-dwelling elderly
JO  - American journal of applied psychology
A1  - Akulwar, Isha S.
A1  - Sakina, Dohadwala
SP  - 153
EP  - 153
VL  - 6
IS  - 6
N2  - The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of fear of falling and its association with fall, avoidance of activity, balance deficits and risk of fall in community-dwelling older individuals. It was a cross-sectional study conducted in general community setting. Fifty community-dwelling elderly (mean age of 77.98 ± 2.83years), ambulatory, without any severe medical conditions participated in the study. Main outcome measures of the study were fear of falling (FOF), fall and activity avoidance assessed through an interview-based questionnaire; balance assessed using Berg Balance Scale (BBS); balance confidence assessed using Activities-specific Balance Confidence (ABC) scale. FOF and associated avoidance of activity was reported by 60% and 52% of the elderly respectively. In subjects reporting FOF, 76% were fallers, 44% being non-fallers. BBS score of the subjects reporting FOF was significantly lower (42.7 ± 10.12) than the subjects without FOF (53.65 ± 3.51). Also, the subjects with FOF had a score below 46, the cut-off point for predicting risk of falling. In subjects having FOF, 56.66% had low risk of falls and 43.33% had medium risk of falls whereas all the subjects with no fear of fall had low risk of falls. Subjects FOF reported a significantly lower balance confidence on ABC scale as compared to subjects without FOF. Thus, it is concluded that FOF and associated avoidance of activity are highly prevalent in the community-dwelling older people. FOF is significantly associated with fall/s, balance deficits with an increased fall risk, avoidance of activity and low balance confidence in doing activities of daily living. FOF can be considered as a significant health problem of equal importance to a fall. This study highlights the importance of identifying FOF and addressing factors related to it in the rehabilitation of the elderly.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 2328-5664
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.11648/j.ajap.20170606.13
ID  - ref1
ER  -