THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN FEAR OF FALLING AND RECURRENT FALLS IN SAUDI PEOPLE WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS

S. Alhadlaq¹, M. Almarwani¹

¹King Saud University, Physical Therapy, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Background: People with multiple sclerosis (MS) fall frequently. Approximately 75% of people with MS have difficulties with balance and walking, resulting in gait impairments and an increased risk of falling. Falls cause fear of falling, which increases the risk of recurrent falls. One of the risk factors of recurrent falls is fear of falling, defined as a psychological state characterized by being afraid of falling.

Purpose: To examine the association between fear of falling and recurrent falls in Saudi people with multiple sclerosis.

Methods: A cross-sectional observational study design. Sixty-three participants were recruited for this study. Walking ability and disease severity were assessed by the Arabic version of the Patient Determined Disease Steps Scale (PDDS); fear of falling was assessed by the Arabic version of the Falls Efficacy Scale International (FES-I) questionnaire; fatigue was assessed by the Arabic version of the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale; and the history of falls over 6 months was assessed with a questionnaire about fall status.

Results: In people with MS, fear of falling was significantly associated with recurrent falls (χ²=7.952; p< 0.05), fear of falling significantly correlated with fatigue ( r = 0.547; p<.001).

Conclusions: The findings presented in this study suggest that high FOF is associated with an increased risk of recurrent falls and is correlated with fatigue in people with MS.

Implications: The findings presented in this study suggest that high FOF is associated with an increased risk of recurrent falls in people with MS and may be predictive of a greater risk of future recurrent falls regardless of whether the individual has previously fallen recurrently. In addition, our results confirm that there is a correlation between fear of falling and fatigue in people with MS. Therapeutic interventions that improve self-efficacy and reduce FOF are required. incorporating approaches for enhancing psychological and physical components in order to ensure safety and increase or maintain mobility function in people with MS. In the future, more emphasis should be placed on cognitive behavioral treatment to improve gait in the long term. Healthcare providers need to be aware that falls are a critical problem for people with MS. Clinicians should also be aware that FOF is prevalent in people with MS and that these concerns may be present even in people who have not recently fallen.

Funding acknowledgements: The authors declared no funding for this work.

Keywords:
Fear of falling
Recurrent falls
Multiple sclerosis

Topics:
Neurology: multiple sclerosis
Neurology

Did this work require ethics approval? Yes

Institution: king Saud university

Committee: institutional review board

Ethics number: E-21-6487