[Fear of falling in elderly community-dwelling individuals].
OBJECTIVE
To determine the association between fear of falling and health status, a history of previous falls and personal characteristics in a representative sample of elderly people.


METHODS
We conducted an observational, cross-sectional prevalence study in the community setting in Albacete (Spain) of 921 people older than 65 years old selected through simple randomization. Participants underwent semi-structured interviews about their history of falls, fear of falling, illnesses and sociodemographic characteristics. Multivariate analysis was used to evaluate the association between fear of falling and its possible conditioning factors.


RESULTS
In the previous year, 26.3% of interviewees had fallen and 49.4% expressed a strong fear of falling. A high proportion (78.9%) considered the consequences of falls to be very serious, but only 44.7% believed that most of these falls could be prevented. The variables associated with a greater fear of falling were female sex (OR=5.5; 95% CI: 3.9-7.6), age more than 75 years old (OR=2.0; 95% CI: 1.5-2.8), illiteracy or lack of education beyond reading/writing skills (OR= 1.5; 95% CI: 1.1-2.1), taking psychotropic medication (OR=1.6; 95% CI: 1.1-2.2), and having cardiocirculatory disease (OR=1.5; 95% CI: 1.1-2.2), disorders of the locomotor system (OR=2.2; 95% CI: 1.5-3.1) and a history of falls (OR=1.9; 95% CI: 1.3-2.7).


CONCLUSIONS
Approximately half of the interviewees expressed strong concern about falls. The factors associated with a fear of falling were a history of falls and certain clinical and sociodemographic characteristics. Most of the interviewees considered that falls had serious consequences but less than half believed that a large proportion of falls could be avoided.
Unidad de Investigación de la Gerencia de Atención Primaria de Albacete, Servicio de Salud de Castilla-La Mancha, Albacete, España.
Ignacio Párraga
IP
Martínez
Beatriz Navarro
BN
Bravo
Fernando Andrés
FA
Pretel
Juan Noé Denia
JN
Muñoz
Rocío Pilar Elicegui
RP
Molina
Jesús López-Torres
JL
Hidalgo
D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires