Abstract
BackgroundFear of falling (FOF) is the most common public health problem, which can lead to loss of confidence, reducing physical and social activities, depression, loss of mobility, increased risk of falls, physical weakness, and strong negative impact on an older people’s quality of life. However, studies in developing country were lacking, particularly in the study area. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to fill this gap in the study area in particular and the country in general. The purpose of the current study was to assess the prevalence and associated factors with fear of falling among older people 60 years and older who were living in Bahir Dar city, Ethiopia.MethodsA community based cross sectional study design was conducted with a total sample size of 527 participants and multistage random sampling technique was used to select the study participants. The fall efficacy scale tool was used to develop the questionnaire. Data were coded, cleaned and entered into SPSS version 23 for analysis. Multi-collinearity and model fitting were checked. In bivariate logistic regression analyses, variables with p-value< 0.25 were considered as potential candidates for multivariable logistic regression analyses. A variable with p-value< 0.05 at 95% CI was considered as statistically significant. Finally, the odds ratio and 95% confidence interval were estimated and interpreted.ResultsA total of 481 participants was included in this study. The prevalence of fear of falling among the older people was 59.9% (95% CI; 55.7–64.4). Fear of falling was significantly associated with the following variables:- advanced age (AOR = 4.01, 95% CI; 1.65–9.74), female (AOR = 4.25, 95% CI; 2.25–8.01), lower education level (AOR = 2.77, 95% CI; 1.12–6.82), anxiety [AOR = 9.03, 95% CI; 4.78–17.07), confirmed medical conditions (AOR = 2.01, 95% CI; 1.03–3.91) and walking aids used (AOR = 13.82; 95% CI; 5.21–36.63).ConclusionsA moderate prevalence of fear of falling was observed. The major associated factors were advanced age, being female, lower educational level, anxiety, confirmed medical conditions and walking aids used. Hence, we recommend the need of rehabilitation programs that enable healthy aging and further rigor research is recommended.
Highlights
Fear of falling (FOF) is the most common public health problem, which can lead to loss of confidence, reducing physical and social activities, depression, loss of mobility, increased risk of falls, physical weakness, and strong negative impact on an older people’s quality of life
Physical exercise Is any kind of moderate – intensity exercise done at least 150 min per week [33, 34]
Prevalence of fear of falling among older people 60 years and older in Bahir Dar City The overall prevalence of FOF among older people 60 years and older who were living in Bahir Dar city was (n = 288, 59.9, 95% Confidence Interval (CI), 55.7–64.4%)
Summary
Fear of falling (FOF) is the most common public health problem, which can lead to loss of confidence, reducing physical and social activities, depression, loss of mobility, increased risk of falls, physical weakness, and strong negative impact on an older people’s quality of life. The purpose of the current study was to assess the prevalence and associated factors with fear of falling among older people 60 years and older who were living in Bahir Dar city, Ethiopia. Birhanie et al BMC Geriatr (2021) 21:586 It is a major health problem among older people living in the communities who have and have not a history of falling [4,5,6,7]. In the U.S.A, FOF is a common problem among older people, with an incidence ranging from 21 to 85% [10] and approximately one-third of them had activity limitations [11]. In Africa study conducted among older people living in the community of Egypt, prevalence rate of FOF was 64.4% [12]
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