HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Cited by other online articles Google Scholar Articles by Li, F. Articles by Wilson, N. L. Articles citing this Article PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Li, F. Articles by Wilson, N. L.

Fear of Falling in Elderly Persons: Association With Falls, Functional Ability, and Quality of Life

¹ Oregon Research Institute, Eugene, Oregon.
² Department of Exercise Science, Willamette University, Salem, Oregon.
³ Department of Kinesiology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Address correspondence to Fuzhong Li, PhD, Oregon Research Institute, 1715 Franklin Boulevard, Eugene, OR 97403. E-mail: fuzhongl{at}ori.org

This study examined heterogeneity in response patterns of the participants of the Survey of Activities and Fear of Falling in the Elderly (SAFFE) and their relationships to falls, functional ability, quality of life, and activity restriction measures in a cohort of 256 older people (mean age = 77.5 years). Participants recruited from local primary care clinics were administered the SAFFE instrument, an activity restriction measure, a combination of self-reported and performance-based functional ability tests, and quality-of-life measures. Latent class analyses identified two classes: Class 1 (n = 209), which had a low SAFFE fear of falling, and Class 2 (n = 47), which had a high SAFFE fear of falling. Subsequent analyses of variance indicated that the two-class (low fear and high fear) SAFFE fear of falling profiles discriminated fallers from nonfallers, and low and high levels of functional ability, activity restriction, and quality of life. The findings from this study suggest that variations in the SAFFE response patterns on a single dimension of fear of falling and that high levels of fear of falling measured by the SAFFE are linked to a range of adverse health consequences.

This article has been cited by other articles: (Search Google Scholar for Other Citing Articles)

				C. M Stretton, N. K Latham, K. N Carter, A. C Lee, and C. S Anderson Determinants of physical health in frail older people: the importance of self-efficacy Clinical Rehabilitation, April 1, 2006; 20(4): 357 - 366. [Abstract] [PDF]

				F. Li, P. Harmer, K. J. Fisher, E. McAuley, N. Chaumeton, E. Eckstrom, and N. L. Wilson Tai Chi and Fall Reductions in Older Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci., February 1, 2005; 60(2): 187 - 194. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]