Fear-related avoidance of activities, falls and physical frailty. A prospective community-based cohort study

Objective: to investigate the relationship between fear-related avoidance of activities and physical frailty. Subjects and methods: fear-related avoidance of activities, physical performance, maximal isometric muscle strength and postural control were assessed in 225 community-living elderly (94 men...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Age and ageing 2004-07, Vol.33 (4), p.368-373
Main Authors: Delbaere, Kim, Crombez, Geert, Vanderstraeten, Guy, Willems, Tine, Cambier, Dirk
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accidental Falls
Activities of Daily Living
Aged
Avoidance
avoidance of activities
Care and treatment
Cognition & reasoning
Cohort Studies
Community living
elderly
Elderly people
Falls
Fear
Fear & phobias
Fear - psychology
fear of falling
Female
Frail
Frail elderly
Frail Elderly - psychology
Humans
Logistic Models
Male
Motor ability
Motor Activity - physiology
Muscles - physiology
Musculoskeletal physiology
Older people
Physical activity
physical frailty
Prospective Studies
Psychology
Risk factors
Risk perception
Sex Factors
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Summary:Objective: to investigate the relationship between fear-related avoidance of activities and physical frailty. Subjects and methods: fear-related avoidance of activities, physical performance, maximal isometric muscle strength and postural control were assessed in 225 community-living elderly (94 men and 131 women), aged between 61 and 92 years of age. Results: bivariate analyses revealed significant correlations between avoidance of activities on the one hand, and physical performance, muscle strength, forward endpoint excursion of the centre of gravity, and previous falls on the other hand. Logistic regression analysis revealed that fear of falling and avoidance of activities in daily life were predictive of falls within a 1-year follow-up, together with general fear of falling, old age and being female. Conclusions: fear-related avoidance of activities may have negative effects on physical abilities and may also be predictive for future falls. Avoidance of activities is therefore an important additional psychological variable in the development of physical frailty and falling in community-living elderly.
ISSN:0002-0729
1468-2834
DOI:10.1093/ageing/afh106