The Relationship Between Fear Of Falling, Activities Of Daily Living And Depression In Community Living Older Persons

Objective: The aims of this study were to determine the status of physical function and fear of falling among the older persons living community.To explore the influencing factors of fear of falling. Its aim was to identify the impact factors on activities of daily living because of fear of falling. To investigate the correlation of fear of falling, physical function and depression. It would improve the right views on fear of falling in older persons and take effective measures to prevent and reduce the influencing on living and health of older persons with fear of falling .Methods: The ChangAn community living older persons of Shijiazhuang were investigated by questionnaires. The contents of questionnaire included features of population, the falls history, living status, health status, the Modified Falls Efficacy Scales, the Modified Barthel Index, the Short Geriatric Depression Scale, and physical performance measures (Berg Balance Scale).Descriptive Statistics-Frequencies, Crosstabs, Nonparametric test, Multiple stepwise regression, Spearman Correlation were performed to study the states and the impact factors.Results: A total of 304 valid questionnaires were obtained. The age ranged from 60 to 92. 203 participants were female, 101 participants were male. The majority education were lower.133 participants reported no fear of falling, And 23% participants reported that they have lived alone. The results were followed:1 The median of the Modified Falls Efficacy Scale was 8.82, the median of the three items on"Get dressed and undressed","Prepare a simple meal","Walk around the inside of your house"were 10; the median of the seven items on"Get in/out of a chair","Get in/out of bed","Answer the door or telephone","Reach into cabinets or closet","Light housekeeping","Simple shopping", "Light gardening or hanging out the washing"were 9; the median of other items on"Take a bath or a shower","Using public transport","Crossing roads","Using front or rear steps at home"were 8.2 Univariate analysis of the impact factors showed that the fear of falling status was negative correlation with aging(P<0.01),it indicated that older persons age was bigger, the score of Modified Falls Efficacy Scale was lower. And the fear of falling degree was higher. The fear of falling status was negative correlation with chronic medical conditions(P<0.01), it explained that chronic medical conditions of older persons was more serious, the degree of fear falling was higher.A significant difference was identified on the terms of pre-retirement career. The degree of fear of falling in manual workers were significantly higher than the non-manual workers. There were significant differences in terms of educational level(P<0.05).The longer was educational time of older persons, the higher was the Modified Falls Efficacy Scale score and lower. There had significant differences in terms of physical activity. The olders joining excise usually had the highest score in the Modified Falls Efficacy Scale. It showed that the participants of the group had a lower fear; conversely, the persons never joining excise had the strongest fear of falling. Meanwile, there were significant differences between the group of a history and not.The level of fear in participants with a history of fall were higher than without history of fall. There were significant differences in terms of a history of an injurious fall, the persons had a history of an injurious fall were higher fear. There were significant differences between the groups of using a gait aids and not, using gait aids the stronger fear.3 Based on the study results of multiple regression analysis, the influential factors of fear of falling were using a gait aids, participate in a physical activity program, aging, chronic medical conditions explained 35.0% of the variance of the fear of falling.4 The correlation among fear of falling , ADL, balance and depression The fear of falling was significantly negative correlation to ADL(P< 0.01); the fear of falling was significantly negative correlation to their balance(P<0.01); and the fear of falling was significantly positive correlation to depression(P<0.01).Conclusion: The median of the Modified Falls Efficacy Scale was 8.82. Using a gait aids, participate in a physical activity program, aging, chronic medical conditions explained 35.0% of the variance of the fear of falling. Fear of falling status was negatively related to ADL and balance, and positively corrected to depression. Therefore, further study is necessary to increase the example and to explore the influential factors of management more deeply.