Fear of Falling in Elderly at a Tertiary Hospital Rehabilitation Clinic: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: Fear of falling (FOF) in older people can restrict physical activity. In comparison, long-term physical activity reduction may lead to declining physiological function of older people, ultimately decreasing overall quality of life. Comprehensive research on the prevalence of fear of falling in older people is needed to prevent the negative cycle of repeated falls and improve the quality of life of older people.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study with a questionnaire and interview to examine the variables of FOF (measured by FES-I), age, sex, fall history, and physical activity (measured by IPAQ-SF). Bivariate analysis used the Spearman correlation or Fisher Exact test to describe the association between FOF and each variable.

Results: From 35 elderly patients of the medical rehabilitation outpatient clinic at Dr. Soetomo General Academic Hospital, the prevalence of low FOF is 17.1%, moderate FOF is 51.4%, and high FOF is 31.4%. The level of physical activity is significantly associated with the fear of falling (p=0.012), with the most significant prevalence of high FOF found in the elderly group with low activity (50%).

Conclusion: The highest FOF prevalence is a moderate FOF level and correlates with physical activity. Further research is needed with a more significant number of heterogeneous subjects so that multivariate tests can be carried out by considering other variables that have yet to be investigated in this study.

Keywords: elderly, falls, fear of falling, physical activity