Fear of falling (FF): Psychosocial and physical factors among institutionalized older Chinese men in Taiwan

Psychological Correlates of Fear of Falling in the Elderly

“…Moreover, we found that an increase in falls self-efficacy tends to be accompanied by a greater perceived control over falling and balance and that an increase in the perceived control over falling is associated with a better performance in balance. These results are consistent with previous studies (Carvalho et al, 2007;Jung, 2008;Kempen, Van Haastegt, McKee, Delbaere, & Zijlstra, 2009;Martínez et al, 2010) and are to some extent expected because they reinforce the relationship between the presence of FOF and higher levels of vulnerability and frailty among older adults (Chu et al, 2011).…”

“…This is because it's possible that feelings of anxiety (or symptoms of depression) can cause older adults to be less confident about their abilities and become more afraid of falling (Chu et al, 2011;Means, O'Sullivan, & Rodell, 2003). Depression and anxiety have been found to be strongly associated with FOF among community dwelling older adults (e.g., Gagnon et al, 2005).…”

A Lower Prevalence of Self-Reported Fear of Falling Is Associated with Memory Decline among Older Adults

“…It is in line with studies that show the prevalence of FoF is higher in females and in individuals with worse physical function (i.e. worse scores on the TUG and one-leg standing tests) and a history of falls [25,35]. The results of the present study revealed that memory function was also significantly associated with FoF, which indicates that a lower prevalence of FoF is associated with memory decline among older adults, although there were no significant associations between FoF and other cognitive functions (i.e.…”

“…FoF was assessed by a fourth-ordered choice, closed-ended question about participants’ general FoF. The question was phrased as follows: ‘Are you afraid of falling?’ Participants who responded ‘very much’ or ‘somewhat’ were assigned to the fear group; participants who responded ‘a little’ or ‘not at all’ were assigned to the no-fear group [24] , which had a high test-retest reliability of up to 0.9 in a sample of 44 randomly selected individuals [25]. …”

Prevalence of fear of falling in older adults, and its associations with clinical, functional and psychosocial factors: The Frailty in Brazilian Older People‐Rio de Janeiro Study

“…29 The present results corroborate the association between depression and fear of falling. 7,16,20,24,30 According to Tinetti et al, depressive symptoms related to fear of falling could contribute to a disuse-disability cycle involving decreased activity and deconditioning, consequently increasing increased dependency. 1 Meanwhile, Painter et al found an association between anxiety and fear of falling, but not depression.…”