PREVALENCE OF FEAR OF FALLING AND RELATED FACTORS AMONG GREEK COMMUNITY-DWELLING OLDER ADULTS

M. Tsekoura¹, K. Fousekis¹, S. Xergia¹, S. Lampropoulou¹, E. Tsepis¹, E. Billis¹

¹University of Patras, Physiotherapy, Rio, Greece

Background: Fear of falling (FoF) is a common and consequential psychosocial problem and is an important risk indicator for adverse health related outcomes in older adults such as poor quality of life, lack of independence, decrease in social interactions, activity limitations. Although there is growing awareness of this problem among health care providers there is a little knowledge about the prevalence and correlated factors among people 60 years and older in Greece.

Purpose: To investigate prevalence rates of FOF and identify the associate factors in Greek older adults living in community.

Methods: An observational cross sectional study was carried out among a convenience sample recruited from Achaia region in Western Greece. A self-administered questionnaire collected information on sociodemographic characteristics, history of falls, and chronic diseases. Fear of falling was assessed using the Greek version of the Fall Efficacy Scale-I (FES-I). Sit to stand test (Five times sit to stand test) was applied as an indicator of physical performance. The University of Patras Ethics Committee approved the study. Associations between FoF and age, 5 times sit to stand test, falls in the previous year, and comorbidities were evaluated using logistic regression models to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) in older adults.

Results: The sample consisted of 421 Greek community-dwelling adults (302 women;119 men) with a mean age of 72.391±6.8 years who were willing to participate in the study. The prevalence of fear of falling was 38.8%. FoF was significantly associated with the following variables: advanced age (OR = 3.01, 95% CI; 1.65–4.74], falls in the previous year (OR = 2.25, 95% CI; 2.25–6.01), longer 5 times chair stand times (OR = 1.9, 95% CI; 1.25–2.01), and comorbidities (OR = 2.4, 95% CI; 2.25–5.01).

Conclusions: This study reinstates that fear of falls is a significant health issue in older adults. The major associated factors were advanced age, comorbidities, falls in the previous year and low physical performance.

Implications: FoF is significantly affected by parameters such as, age, comorbidities and physical performance. The early identification of these factors may prevent falls and decrease the fear of falls. The need of rehabilitation programs that enable healthy aging and further rigor research is recommended.

Funding acknowledgements: None

Keywords:
falls
fear
older aduts

Topics:
Older people
Health promotion & wellbeing/healthy ageing/physical activity
Musculoskeletal

Did this work require ethics approval? Yes

Institution: University of Patras

Committee: Ethical Commitee University of Patras

Ethics number: 12880