Understanding fear of falling and risk taking in older people [ 2006 - 2008 ]

Research Grant

Researchers: Prof Stephen Lord (Principal investigator) ,  A/Pr Richard Fitzpatrick ,  Prof Jacqueline Close

Brief description Fear of falling is a very significant issue for many older people. Estimates of the prevalence of fear of falling in older community-dwelling people range from 29 to 92% in those who have suffered previous falls, and 12 to 65% in those have not. Fear of falling can lead to restriction and curtailment of activity, reduced quality of life, anxiety, depression and social isolation. To date, all studies addressing fear of falling have simply considered no fear to be good and presence of fear to be bad, and have not attempted to assess whether this fear is rational or irrational in relation to actual balance abilities or physical functioning. In this study, we aim to find out which psychological, physical, health and lifestyle factors distinguish between older people with and without an irrational fear of falling based on their actual physical falling risk. We also wish to understand the role that fear of falling and other psychological factors (anxiety, depression and avoidance) play in causing older people to fall; and to measure how falls can lead to increased fear of falling, anxiety and depression and reduced physical functioning. The complex nature of psychological risk factors of falling and the limited background information on this subject, hampers its integration in falls prevention programs. Although there is growing awareness of this problem among health care providers, additional research is needed about why older people develop a fear of falling in order to fully understand fear of falling and to tailor specific intervention and prevention strategies.

Funding Amount $AUD 355,877.93

Funding Scheme NHMRC Project Grants

Notes Standard Project Grant