Longitudinal associations of concurrent falls and fear of falling with functional limitations differ by living alone or not

Frontiers in Public Health

Public Health

Song Ge¹  Xiaoting Huang²  Kehan Liu²  Chunxiao Li²  Wenting Peng²  Yu Zheng²  Minhui Liu² 

[1] Department of Natural Sciences, University of Houston-Downtown, Houston, TX, United States;Xiangya School of Nursing, Central South University, Changsha, China;

关键词: falls;    fear of falling;    functional limitations;    living alone;    older adults;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpubh.2023.1007563

 received in 2022-07-30, accepted in 2023-02-22,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundFalls and fear of falling (FOF) are independent risk factors for functional limitations in older adults. However, the combined effect of falls and FOF on functional limitations and the moderating role of living alone or not is unclear. We aimed to examine (1) the independent and combined effect of falls and FOF on functional limitations in older adults and (2) whether living alone moderates these associations.MethodsWe used data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) and included 5,950 U.S. community-dwelling older adults aged 65 and older from Round 1 (Year 2011) and Round 2 (Year 2012). Falls and FOF were ascertained by asking participants whether they had any falls in the last year and whether they had worried about falling in the previous month at R1. Assessed functional limitations included any difficulties with mobility, self-care, or household activities at R2. Poisson regression models were used to examine the longitudinal associations of falls and FOF with functional limitations and the moderation effects of baseline living alone.ResultsOf the 5,950 participants, 16.3% had falls only; 14.3% had FOF only; 14.3% had both, and 55.1% had neither at baseline. In the adjusted model, those who experienced concurrent falls and FOF in R1 had a higher risk of functional limitations at R2 than those with neither (Mobility: Incidence risk ratio [IRR] = 1.34, 95% CI: 1.24–1.45; Self-care: IRR = 1.18, 95% CI: 1.11–1.26; Household: IRR = 1.20, 95% CI: 1.11–1.30). Moreover, living alone significantly moderated the longitudinal associations of concurrent falls and FOF with mobility activity limitations.ConclusionThe findings suggest that strategies to improve falls and FOF together could potentially help prevent functional limitations. Older adults who live with others and have falls or FOF should receive interventions to promote their mobility activities.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 Liu, Peng, Ge, Li, Zheng, Huang and Liu.