Abstract
(1) Background: The objective of the present study was to determine the ability of the SARC-F questionnaire to identify individuals at risk of falling among middle-aged and older community-dwelling postmenopausal women. (2) Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted on 157 women (70.80 ± 8.37 years). The SARC-F questionnaire was used to screen for risk of sarcopenia. Fear of falling and balance confidence, as measured by the Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I) and the Activities-Specific balance Scale-16 items (ABC-16) respectively, were used to assess risk of falling. Anxiety and depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), fatigue (Fatigue Severity Scale), body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio, and sleep duration were also determined. (3) Results: Logistic regression showed that higher risk of falling as assessed by FES-I was associated with higher SARC-F scores (OR = 1.656), anxiety levels (OR = 1.147), and age (OR = 1.060), while increased SARC-F scores (OR = 1.612), fatigue (OR = 1.044), and shorter sleep duration (OR = 0.75) were related to ABC-16 scores. In addition, a SARC-F cutoff of 1.50 (83.33% sensitivity and 59.13% specificity) and 3.50 (44.44% sensitivity and 89.26% specificity) were shown to be able to discriminate participants at risk of falling according to the FES-I and the ABC-16, respectively. (4) Conclusions: our results show that SARC-F is an independent predictor of the risk of falling among middle-aged and older community-dwelling postmenopausal women.
Highlights
Depression sleep duration, and fatigue were in the normal ranges
Our results showed anofincreased of sarcopenia assessed with the people at risk of falling according to the Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I), with a sensitivity of and a specificity
The results of the present study suggested that a SARC-F score of 4 points and over was an independent predictor of fall risk as assessed by the Activities-Specific balance Scale-16 items (ABC-16), but there was no association with body mass index (BMI)
Summary
Falls are a serious clinical problem among community-dwelling older adults, with almost one third of those aged 65 years and over experiencing at least one fall each year [1]. For the last thirty years, disability and mortality related to falls among older people have increased, and fall prevention is critical [2]. It has been reported that, compared with men, women have a higher rate of nonfatal falls and fall-related injuries for all age groups [3,4]. Sayyah et al [5] described the probability of falls for women over 65 years being 31.9%. This, together with the high prevalence of osteoporosis in older women due to menopause, highlights the importance of preventing falls among postmenopausal women
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