Abstract
Introduction: Falls are among the most common and serious problems facing elderly women. Falling is associated with increased mortality, morbidity, reduced functioning, loss of independence and hospitalization. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the association among fear of falling, muscle strength, and functional abilities in community-dwelling elderly women. Methods: Forty-nine elderly women (70.57 ± 5.59 years) participated in this study. Records of falls, self-efficacy associated with falls (FES-I Brazil), functional abilities (the Timed Up and Down Stairs test [TUDS] and the Timed Up and Go test [TUG]), lower limb muscle strength (knee extensors and ankle plantar flexors), and hand grip strength were investigated as variables of interest. Descriptive statistics, the one-way ANOVA, and linear regression tests were used to analyze the association between fear of falling and falls with other variables (α = 0.05). Results: Elderly women who presented records of falls within the last year had lesser strength of knee extensors and plantar flexors (p ≤. 05). Those who had low self-efficacy associated with falls presented lower strength of knee extensors (p ≤. 01). Variables associated with functional abilities (r = 0.70) and lower limb strength (r = 0.53) showed a positive correlation (p ≤. 01). Conclusion: The concern with the fear of falling and falls may be negative effects caused by lower limb muscle weakness.
Highlights
Falls are among the most common and serious problems facing elderly women
Considering the prevalence of and complications associated with falls, the aim of the present study was to investigate the association among concern with the fear of falling, muscle strength, and functional abilities in elderly women living in the community
The exclusion criteria were: not presenting good cognitive status as analyzed by the Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE) (20); be diagnosed with serious cardiorespiratory diseases, neurological disorders, or balance disorders; report hip, knee, ankle, and/or lumbar pain with a score higher than three in the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) (21); have a disabling musculoskeletal disorder, or range of motion (ROM) limitation in hip, knee, and/ or ankle that would not enable the undertaking of exams, or perform physical activities more than twice a week for at least 30 minutes within the last three months (5)
Summary
Falls are among the most common and serious problems facing elderly women. Falling is associated with increased mortality, morbidity, reduced functioning, loss of independence and hospitalization. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the association among fear of falling, muscle strength, and functional abilities in community-dwelling elderly women. Self-efficacy associated with falls (FES-I Brazil), functional abilities (the Timed Up and Down Stairs test [TUDS] and the Timed Up and Go test [TUG]), lower limb muscle strength (knee extensors and ankle plantar flexors), and hand grip strength were investigated as variables of interest. The female gender is an independent risk factor for falls in the aged population (9, 7), probably due to the hormonal decline associate with aging, which restricts the protective effect against the loss of muscle mass (1, 10). In Brazil, the number of elderly people is growing quickly, causing an increase in the number of chronic degenerative conditions (7)
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