Fear of falling and physical performance among older Czech adults

Abstract

A -Study Design, B -Data Collection, C -Statistical Analysis, D -Data Interpretation, E -Manuscript Preparation, F -Literature search, G -Funds CollectionBackground. The fear of falling (FoF) refers to a lack of self-confidence that normal activities can be performed without falling. FoF represents an important psychological factor at an older age.Objectives. This study aimed to analyse the factors associated with FoF in a sample of community-dwelling older Czech adults. Material and methods. A cross-sectional study was performed in 2017-2018. The Falls Efficacy Scale-International and the Short Physical Performance Battery were completed by 349 older adults with (n = 140) and without (n = 209) dementia. Fisher's exact test, analysis of variance and logistic regression models were used for statistical analyses. Results. Cognitive impairment, age and physical frailty were significantly associated with higher FoF. In three models of linear regression, associations between FoF and physical frailty were found. The first model demonstrated that physically frail older adults had a higher adjusted risk of FoF compared to less physically frail individuals [odds ratio (OR) = 11.91; 95% confidence interval (CI): 7.17-19.78]. In the second model, high FoF was discovered in physically frail adults age ≥ 80 (OR = 11.41; 95% CI: 6.50-20.04) and women (OR = 1.97; 95% CI: 1.08-3.59). In the final adjusted model, physically frail older adults had a higher FoF compared to less physically frail adults (OR = 10.02; 95% CI: 4.24-23.70), and higher education lowered the FoF score (OR = 0.57; 95% CI: 0.34-0.96; p = 0.034).Conclusions. The multivariate analysis demonstrated that being physically frail was the main risk factor for high FoF, followed by the female gender. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/). Kurková P, Kisvetrová H, Horváthová M, Tomanová J, Bretšnajdrová M, Herzig R. Fear of falling and physical performance among older Czech adults. Fam Med Prim Care Rev 2020; 22(1): 32-35, doi: https://doi.

Association between frailty status and cognitive performance of elderly patients attending the Family Medicine Outpatient Clinic in Ismailia, Egypt

“…These results could be explained by the recently, published neuropathology data which have shown additional links between cognitive impairment and frailty, suggesting common mechanisms. Another study stated that cognitive impairment and physical frailty were associated with an increased fear of falls [28].…”

Dementia and Quality of Life

“…the fear of falling is considered to be a multifactorial (Katsumata et al, 2011;Kumar et al, 2014;Liu, 2015) and multidimensional construct (Boyd, Steven, 2009). Research shows that it occurs more frequently in women (Scheffer et al, 2008;Donoghue et al, 2013;Zijlstra et al, 2007a;Le Bouthillier et al, 2013;Friedman et al, 2002;Kurková et al, 2020) and older adults (Zijlstra et al, 2007b). the fear of falling is connected with a deteriorated functional fitness (Yardley, Smith, 2002;Dias et al, 2011), geriatric frailty (Kurková et al, 2020), cognitive capacity (yardley, smith, 2002), and with depression (austin et al, 2007).…”

“…Research shows that it occurs more frequently in women (Scheffer et al, 2008;Donoghue et al, 2013;Zijlstra et al, 2007a;Le Bouthillier et al, 2013;Friedman et al, 2002;Kurková et al, 2020) and older adults (Zijlstra et al, 2007b). the fear of falling is connected with a deteriorated functional fitness (Yardley, Smith, 2002;Dias et al, 2011), geriatric frailty (Kurková et al, 2020), cognitive capacity (yardley, smith, 2002), and with depression (austin et al, 2007). the prevalence of the fear of falling in older adults is also related to the occurrence of falling in the anamnesis, polypragmasia, hearing impairment, functional dependence in the aDL, lower walking speed, and depression symptoms (Malini et al, 2016).…”

Fall history and fall related concerns in community dwelling older Czech adults

“…The highest prevalence of FOF is seen in the elderly who have fallen in the past (Mikuľáková et al, 2013). We recorded a higher frequency of falls in the older elderly with ill health, who subjectively perceive their health as worse, have functional limitations, mobility disorders, and cognitive impairment (Bendíková and Bartík, 2015;Kurková et al, 2020). FOF has been associated with potentially serious outcomes, such as curtailment of daily living activities, worsening of quality of life, and an increase in future falls (Bobkowska and The aim of this study was twofold.…”