journal articles
FRAILTY AND FEAR OF FALLING: THE FISTAC STUDY
M. Esbrí-Víctor, I. Huedo-Rodenas, M. López-Utiel, J.L. Navarro-López, M. Martínez-Reig, J.A. Serra-Rexach, L. Romero-Rizos, P. Abizanda
J Frailty Aging 2017;6(3):136-140
Objective: To analyze the association between frailty and Fear of Falling (FoF) in a cohort of older adults with previous falls. Design: Cross-sectional study (FISTAC). Setting: Falls Unit, Complejo Hospitalario Universitario of Albacete (Spain). Participants: 183 adults older than 69 years, from the Falls Unit, with a history of a previous fall in the last year. Measurements: FoF was assessed at baseline using the Falls Efficacy Scale International (FES-I) and three questions previously validated. Frailty was assessed with the frailty phenotype criteria. Age, gender, comorbidity, nutritional status, cognitive status and risk of depression were determined. Results: Mean age 78.4, 80.3% women. FoF was present in 140 (76.5%) participants with the three questions and 102 (55.7%) presented high concern of falling with the FES-I. 88.8% of frail older adults presented FoF compared to 62.4% of those who were not frail, and only 37.8% of non frail had a high concern of falling, compared to 77.2% of those who were frail measured with the FES-I. Frail participants had an adjusted risk of FoF that was 3.18 (95% CI 1.32 to 7.65) higher compared to those who were not frail assessed with the three questions and 3.93 (95% CI 1.85 to 8.36) higher concern of falling when using the FES-I scale. Only female sex and depression risk were also associated to FoF in the final adjusted models. Conclusion: Frailty is independently associated with the FoF syndrome in older faller subjects.
CITATION:
M. Esbrí-Víctor ; I. Huedo-Rodenas ; M. López-Utiel ; J.L. Navarro-López ; M. Martínez-Reig ; J.A. Serra-Rexach ; L. Romero-Rizos ; P. Abizanda (2017): FRAILTY AND FEAR OF FALLING: THE FISTAC STUDY. The Journal of Frailty and Aging (JFA). http://dx.doi.org/10.14283/jfa.2017.19