Relationship between activities specific balance confidence (ABC) scale with age and falls on elderly in Wanasraya Nursing Home Denpasar

Abstract

Falls are a major health problem for elderly. Apart from the direct injuries resulting from falls, other long-term consequences may include disability, fear of falling, and loss of independence, which can have serious effects on people’s health and quality of life. These risk factors are categorized into two distinct groups: intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Psychological factors, more commonly referred to the “fear of falling syndrome”, have been linked to significant reductions of daily activities in fallers resulting in a loss of independence. The Activities-Specific Balance Confidence (ABC) scale was used to measure confidence in carrying out specific activities without falling or becoming unsteady. We conduct an analytic cross-sectional study to determine the association between ABC scale with age and falls in elderly. Elderly, age over 60 years, at Wanasraya nursing home Denpasar on January 2015 recruited to this study. All subjects were asked questionnaire of ABC scale and history of falls. Health status was taken from physical examination and medical records. Data were analyzed using SPSS. There were 52 elderly consisted of 26 (50%) men, 26 (50%) women, age range 61 – 90 years, mean 71.6 ± 6.5 years, and 17.3% of them have history of falls. Total ABC scale mean were significantly difference between women and men (81.2 ± 14.1 vs 90 ± 12. 8; p < 0. 05) and between faller and non-faller (73.5 ± 13.6 vs 88.2 ± 12.9; p = 0.01). The ABC scale with cut off 82.9% has significantly association with falls; p = 0.01; prevalence ratio = 7.0; 95%CI 1.6 – 49.8. As a conclusion we found lower total ABC scale has significantly association with falls in elderly.