Comparing functional fitness and quality of life and in men older adults with and without fear of fall and fall history

Abstract

Introduction and purpose:Falls and fear of falling are elderly outcomes and are of main health related problems in older adults. Purpose of this research was to compare health -related quality of life and functional fitness of older adults with and without fear of falling and fall history. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive study 91 subjects at Arak city part icipated voluntarily. Variables measured with SF-36, Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale, Senior Functional Fitness Battery, MMSE, and Fall frequency. Data analyzed with independent t -student and with SPSS software. Findings:The results indicated that about 32% and 27% of subjects had fear of falling and fall history, respectively. Mean scores of subjects in without fear of falling group than with fear of falling and subjects in without fall history group than with fall history group counterparts in quality of life and functional fitnesswas higher significantly ( p≤ .05). Conclusion: Avoidance of daily living activities due to fear of falling or fall history may cause functional fitness decline and results in decline in older adults' quality of li fe and health.