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Relationship Between Fear of Falling, Fear‐Related Activity Restriction, Frailty, and Sarcopenia
Author(s) -
Merchant Reshma Aziz,
Chen Matthew Zhixuan,
Wong Beatrix Ling Ling,
Ng Shu Ee,
Shirooka Hidehiko,
Lim Jia Yi,
Sandrasageran Surein,
Morley John E.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/jgs.16719
Subject(s) - fear of falling , medicine , sarcopenia , geriatric depression scale , odds ratio , cross sectional study , depression (economics) , observational study , stairs , gerontology , activities of daily living , poison control , physical therapy , cognition , injury prevention , psychiatry , environmental health , depressive symptoms , civil engineering , pathology , engineering , economics , macroeconomics
OBJECTIVES To determine the prevalence of fear of falling (FOF) and fear‐related activity restriction (FAR) and their association with frailty, sarcopenia, gait speed and grip strength, cognitive impairment, depression, social isolation, self‐perceived health, and vision. DESIGN Observational cross‐sectional study. SETTING Community. PARTICIPANTS A total of 493 community‐dwelling older adults, 60 years and older. MEASURES FOF and FAR were assessed using validated single closed‐ended questions. Questionnaire was administered to evaluate frailty (FRAIL scale ‐ Fatigue, Resistance, Aerobic, Illness, and Loss of Weight), sarcopenia (SARC‐F ‐ lifting and carrying 10 pounds, walking across a room, transferring from bed/chair, climbing a flight of 10 stairs, and frequency of falls in the past 1 year), social isolation (six‐item Lubben Social Network Scale), depression (Even Briefer Assessment Scale), cognition (Chinese Mini‐Mental State Examination), and perceived general health and pain (The EuroQol‐5 Dimension (EQ‐5D)and EQ visual analogue scale (EQ VAS)) . Binary logistic regression was performed to determine the influence of sociodemographic, medical, functional, and cognitive variables on FOF with/without FAR. RESULTS Prevalence of FOF was 69.2%, and among them, 38.4% had FAR. Prevalence of FOF with or without FAR in those with sarcopenia was 93.3% and in prefrail/frail was 76.6%. FOF was significantly associated with prefrail/frail (odds ratio (OR) = 2.17; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.26–3.73), depression (OR = 4.90; 95% CI = 1.06–22.67), number of medications (OR = 1.28; 95% CI = 1.03–1.59), and female sex (OR = 3.54; 95% CI = 1.82–6.90). FOF + FAR was associated with depression (OR = 5.17; 95% CI = 1.84–14.54) and sarcopenia (OR = 8.13; 95% CI = 1.52–43.41). CONCLUSION FOF with/without FAR is highly prevalent among community‐dwelling older adults, especially in those with sarcopenia, prefrailty, and frailty, with significant negative impact on function, quality of life, social network, and mental health. Further research is needed to investigate the value of population‐level screening, causal relationship, and efficacy of comprehensive intervention strategies.