title: Association between exercise and fear of falling in community-dwelling elderly Koreans: results of a cross-sectional public opinion survey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the association between habitual exercise and fear of falling in an older Korean population.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study conducted in a population-based sample of an urban city.
  
  
  METHODS
  Urban city in South Korea.
  
  
  METHODS
  Randomly sampled older Korean people (N=828; aged ≥65y) living in a typical urban city located in South Korea.
  
  
  METHODS
  Standardized telephone interview.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data on exercise habits, history of falls during the previous year, and fear of falling were obtained using a random digit dialing telephone survey method. Multiple linear regression and multiple logistic regression analyses were used to examine the association between exercise habits and the fear of falling.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The incidence of falls in the study cohort was 13%, and the prevalence of the fear of falling was 67.4% (47.6% in men and 80.8% in women). About 30% of those that expressed a fear of falling stated that this was the cause of their limited activity. Older men and women who exercised regularly showed a similar level of fear of falling, but they were less likely to experience fear-related activity restriction than nonexercisers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A regular exercise habit was found to be inversely associated with fear-related activity restriction regardless of fall experience among older Korean men and women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Jae-Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Soong-Nang
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.forename: Won-Beom
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Min Kyun
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Eun Kyung
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Nam-Jong
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Paik
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015444:Exercise; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D056910:Republic of Korea; D014505:Urban Population