Fear and risk of falls in elderly assisted at a university rehabilitation service

Abstract

Introduction: Fall is an undesirable phenomenon to elderly people (EP), because, may lead to functional impairment and increased mortality. The screening of risk of falls in EP facilitates the implementation of specific strategies of prevention. Objective: To verify the risk, the fear of fall and variables associated to the fear of fall in EP assisted in a university rehabilitation service located in São Paulo State, Brazil. Patients and Methods: We carried out a cross-sectional study which enrolled 40 EP (72.5% females; mean age of 68±7.63 years old). The data collection comprised (i) demographic data and assessment of (ii) fear of fall (Falls Efficacy Scale-International – FES-I), (iii) risk of fall (Timed Up and Go – TUG and Berg Balance Scale - BERG), (iv) gait speed (6-meter gait speed). The Spearman correlation coefficient was calculated to verify association among FES-I and other variables collected. Results: Thirty-five percent of participants have reported frequent falls at a rate of at least 2 falls in the last six months. Variables such as age, TUG (median: 11 seconds; IQR: 9.00-13.75), BERG (median: 54 points; IQR: 48-55), and 6-meter gait speed (mean: 1.20±0.39 m/s) showed an association with FES-I (median:23 points; IQR: 19.25–33.50) (p < 0.001). BERG scale presented a moderate and negative association with FES-I (correlation coefficient: -0.601; p < 0.001). Variables as gender, polypharmacy, occurrence and number of falls were not associated with FES-I. Conclusion: Despite the low risk of fall, the EP reported fear of fall. The fear of fall was associated to age, balance, TUG and gait speed.