Asking older people about fear of falling did not have a negative effect.
OBJECTIVE
To assess whether completing a questionnaire on risk of falling could affect outcome measures: fear of falling, reported falls, and health service contacts in older people (panel conditioning).


METHODS
We used a postal questionnaire to assess the effect on falls risk of implementing falls injury prevention guidelines within a single locality in outer London, UK. We compared responses for the baseline and 6-month follow-up surveys with those for a fresh survey. The latter was sent to a new pool of subjects drawn from the same population, and was sent only once; timing coincided with the follow-up survey.


RESULTS
At baseline, we received 498 responses for 1,000 (50%) surveys sent; of these, 358 (72%) subsequently returned the follow-up survey. For the fresh survey, we received 1,261 out of 2,000 (61%) responses to the fresh survey. The odds ratio for the effect of panel conditioning on fear of falling was 0.92 (95% confidence interval CI = 0.64-1.33), within our predefined limit for equivalence. Odds ratios for the effect on reported falls and health service contacts were 0.87 (95% CI = 0.59-1.29) and 0.75 (95% CI = 0.55-1.02), respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
The proportions of subjects who feared falling in the follow-up survey and in the fresh survey were equivalent. Reduced reporting of falls and health service use in the follow-up survey suggest that the potential for panel effects cannot be ignored.
Underwood
Martin R
MR
Centre for Health Sciences, Barts and The London, Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, Abernethy Building, London E1 2AT. gppc-admin@qmul.ac.uk
Parsons
Suzanne
S
Eldridge
Sandra M
SM
Spencer
Anne E
AE
Feder
Gene S
GS
D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000517:prevention & control; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001364:Awareness; D005239:Fear / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D016330:Frail Elderly / Q000523:psychology; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008131:London; D008297:Male; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires