Fear of imbalance and falling

1998 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucy Yardley

This review examines the relationship between dysequilibrium, falling and anxiety, and their combined impact on the lives of elderly people. More than one in four people aged over 69 fall each year, and a higher proportion of those over 74. Although only one in ten incurs serious injury as a direct result of the fall, fear of falling can often lead not only to psychological distress but also to restriction of activity and an unnecessary and undesirable loss of independence. Naturally, symptoms of imbalance constitute a key risk factor for falling.

2003 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 195-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucy Yardley

This review examines the relationship between unsteadiness, falling and anxiety, and their combined impact on the lives of older people. Over one in four people over 69 fall each year, and a higher proportion of those over 74. Although only one in ten incur serious injury as a direct result of the fall, fear of falling can often lead not only to psychological distress but also to restriction of activity and an unnecessary and undesirable loss of independence. Naturally, symptoms of unsteadiness constitute a key risk factor for falling. As many as one in three older people have suffered from unsteadiness and/or dizziness at some time. Like falling, dizziness and unsteadiness are also associated with distress and restriction of activity.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinzheng Wang ◽  
Hongbin Luo

Objective This study aims to explore the relationship between sedentary behavior and the diabetes mellitus prevalence of middle-aged and elderly people. Methods  we conduct a questionnaire survey and physical examination for a total of 3,000 middle-aged and elderly people (≥45 years old) ,analysing by he software of  SPSS21.0 and Stata12.0. Results The logistic regression analysis shows that the risk of diabetes is 1.617 (95% CI, 0.762-1.789, P <0.05) at 2-4h, 4-6h, 6-8h, ≥8h, = 0.003), 1.235 (95% CI, 0.818-1.865, P = 0.034), 3.420 (95% CI, 2.241-5.218, P = 0.000), 5.014 (95% CI, 3.049-8.247, P = 0.000). With each additional one-hour sedentariness the risk of diabetes increases by 23% (OR1.23, 95% CI 1.18-1.29, p <0.0001). Conclusions The sedentary behavior is an independent risk factor for diabetes. The prevalence of diabetes is gradually increasing with the increase of sedentary time, which indicates the longer sedentary time, the higher prevalence of diabetes.


Author(s):  
Neeti Mishra ◽  
Anil Kumar Mishra ◽  
Mansi Bidija

Background: Fear of falling in elderly is a major cause of loss of independence, which has an effect on the physical function in elderly individuals. Depression is another important public health problem for older adults, because late life depression might have devastating consequences, such as an increase in mortality. QOL of older adults has become an important issue, because of demographic changes resulting from the ageing of the population. The goal of the study was to assess the depression and fear of fall which will provide further insights into the relationship between QOL, depression and fear of fall among elderly individuals in India.Methods: The sample consisted of 62 elderly people of age between 65 years to 75 years (mean=71.96, SD±5.92) were taken in the study. Depression was assessed using the 30-item geriatric depression scale (GDS), fear of falling was measured using falls efficacy scale (FES), QOL was assessed using the 26-item, World Health Organization Quality of Life, brief version (WHOQOL-BREF).Results: The data was analysed using Pearson co-efficient of correlation to examine the relationship between GDS, FES, and WHOQOL-BREF. The correlation co-efficient between GDS and FES was 0.5257 (p<0.05) and correlation coefficient between GDS and WHOQOL was 0.4372 (p<0.05).Conclusions: This study concluded that there was a significant association between the depression, fall efficacy, and QOL in the elderly people. This relationship has an important implication for the development of the rehabilitation programs that aim to improve the balance confidence and motivation will diminish its impact on QOL in elderly people.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ching-Yao Tsai ◽  
En-Sheng Lin ◽  
Yang-Tzu Li ◽  
Tao-Hsin Tung ◽  
Wei-Cheng Chen

Purpose: This study examined the association between storey of building and fall risk in older adults' residences and residents' level of fear of falling.Methods: The National Health and Ageing Trends Study (NHATS) collected information that would provide an understanding of basic trends people aged 65 years and older. Using a longitudinal survey, the present study employed the first round of NHATS data that was collected in 2011. In the first round, 12,411 participants were enrolled, and 8,077 interviews were completed. The study sample sizes for falling and worry about falling are 6,153 and 6,142, respectively.Results: Unadjusted analysis revealed that storey of building was a risk factor for fall and worry about falling. There was a higher prevalence for fall and worry about falling when subjects lived in single storey of building compared with the subjects live in multi-storey. Logistic regression analysis showed no highly significant between storey of building and the fall/fear of falling.Conclusion: Several clinical factors independently were indicated pertaining to the fall and worry about falling in older adult's residences.


2006 ◽  
Vol 76 (6) ◽  
pp. 359-366 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodríguez-Rodríguez ◽  
Ortega ◽  
López-Sobaler ◽  
Aparicio ◽  
Bermejo ◽  
...  

This study investigated the relationship between the intake of antioxidant nutrients and the suffering of cataracts in 177 institutionalized elderly people (61 men and 116 women) aged ≥ 65 years. Dietary intake was monitored for 7 consecutive days using a "precise individual weighing" method. Subjects, who during their earlier years were exposed by their work to sunlight, had a greater risk of suffering cataracts (OR = 3.2; Cl: 1.1–9.3, P < 0.05) than those who worked indoors. A relationship was found between increased vitamin C intake and a reduced prevalence of cataracts (i.e., when comparing those above P95 for vitamin C intake with those below P5; (OR = 0.08; Cl: 0.01–0.75, P 0.05). Among subjects with cataracts, 12.1% had vitamin C intakes of < 61 mg/day (P10) and only 2.2% had intakes of > 183 mg/day (P95) (p < 0.01). Subjects who consumed > 3290 μg/day (P95) of lutein were less likely to have cataracts (OR = 0.086; Cl: 0.007–1.084; p < 0.05) than those whose consumption was < 256 μg/day (P5). In men, high intakes of zeaxanthin seemed to provide a protective effect against the problem (OR = 0.96; Cl: 0.91–0.99; p < 0.05). The results suggest an association exists between exposure to sunlight and the development of cataracts, and that vitamin C, lutein, and zeaxanthin offer some protection against this disorder.


Crisis ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 398-405 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael R. Nadorff ◽  
Thomas E. Ellis ◽  
Jon G. Allen ◽  
E. Samuel Winer ◽  
Steve Herrera

Background: Although sleep is an important risk factor for suicidal behavior, research has yet to examine the association between sleep problems and suicidality across the course of inpatient treatment. This study examined the relationship among sleep-related symptoms and suicidal ideation across inpatient treatment. Aims: To examine whether poor sleep at admission longitudinally predicts less improvement in suicidal ideation over the course of treatment. Further, to examine whether suicidal ideation is reduced in patients whose sleep does not improve. Method: The study utilized the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)-II, which contains items measuring depressive symptoms, sleep-related symptoms, and suicidal ideation. The study sample consisted of 1,529 adult psychiatric inpatients. Patients were assessed at admission, biweekly, and at treatment termination. Results: Admission fatigue, loss of energy, and change in sleep pattern were associated with higher levels of suicidal ideation at admission and discharge. Fatigue at admission predicted suicidal ideation at termination independent of admission depression and suicidal ideation. Individuals whose sleep did not improve over the course of treatment had significantly higher suicidal ideation scores at termination relative to those whose sleep symptoms improved, after controlling for sleep, depression, and suicidal ideation scores at admission. Conclusion: These findings suggest that persistence of sleep-related symptoms warrants clinical attention in the treatment of suicidal patients.


2010 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mette M. Aanes ◽  
Maurice B. Mittelmark ◽  
Jørn Hetland

This paper investigated whether the lack of social connectedness, as measured by the subjective feeling of loneliness, mediates the well-known relationship between interpersonal stress and psychological distress. Furthermore, a relationship between interpersonal stress and somatic symptoms was hypothesized. The study sample included 3,268 women and 3,220 men in Western Norway. The main findings were that interpersonal stress was significantly related to psychological distress as well as to somatic symptoms, both directly and indirectly via paths mediated by loneliness. The size of the indirect effects varied, suggesting that the importance of loneliness as a possible mediator differs for depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and somatic symptoms. In the case of depressive symptoms, more than 75% of the total effect was mediated through loneliness, while in the case of somatic symptoms just over 40% of the total effect was mediated through loneliness. This study supports the hypotheses that social connectedness mediates a relationship between interpersonal stress and psychological distress. The study also provides the first link between interpersonal stress, as measured by the Bergen Social Relationships Scale, and somatic symptoms, extending earlier research on the relationship between interpersonal stress and psychological distress.


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