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. 2024 Mar 19;86(5):2619-2625.
doi: 10.1097/MS9.0000000000001977. eCollection 2024 May.

Fear of falling, quality of life, and daily functional activity of elderly women with and without a history of falling: a cross-sectional study

Sahar Miri  1 , Ali Asghar Norasteh  2
Affiliations

Fear of falling, quality of life, and daily functional activity of elderly women with and without a history of falling: a cross-sectional study

Sahar Miri et al. Ann Med Surg (Lond). .

Abstract

Background: This study aimed to evaluate the fear of falling, quality of life, and daily functional activity of older women aged 60 years or older with or without a history of falling.

Materials and methods: Two hundred older adult women were recruited for the cross-sectional study in Iran. This cross-sectional study collected data from July to August 2023 through convenience sampling. The researchers collected data using a five-part questionnaire, that collected information that included demographic characteristics, the Fall Efficacy Scale in the Elderly-International Version (FES-I), 12-item Quality of Life assessment (SF-12), Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) and Activities of Daily Living (ADL).

Results: FES-I score in older women with a history of falls was significantly higher than those without a history of falls [median: 38.0, interquartile range (IQR): 31.5-44.0 versus median: 22.0, IQR: 20.0-30.0; P<0.001]. The median quality-of-life score using the SF-12 was significantly lower in women with a history of falls than in those without a history of falls (median: 25.0, IQR: 21.0-30.0 versus median: 35.0, IQR: 31.0-39.0; P<0.001). The ADL scores were significantly lower among women with a history of falls than those without (P<0.001). A similar result was obtained for IADL scores (P<0.001).

Conclusion: Overall, this study's findings highlight the adverse impact of a history of falls on three key factors: fear of falling, quality of life, and daily functional activity (including both basic and instrumental activities). The findings delineate that, ultimately, the history of falls can serve as a valuable indicator for better understanding trends in elderly care and addressing the associated challenges.

Keywords: Activities of daily living; elderly; fear of falling; history of fall; quality of life.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.Sponsorships or competing interests that may be relevant to content are disclosed at the end of this article.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Comparison of study variables between women with and without history of falls. Box plot shows minimum, first quartile (Q1), median, third quartile (Q3), and maximum values. The outliers are shown by the black dots (•). The plus sign (+) represents the mean. ADL, Activities of Daily Living; FES-I, Falls Efficacy Scale-International; IADL, Instrumental Activities of Daily Living; SF-12: 12-Item Short-Form Health Survey. The P values are based on the Mann–Whitney test.
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