Fear of falling and associated factors among patients with peripheral vestibular hypofunction

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate the fear of falling and its associ-ated factors among patients with vestibular hypofunction. We conduct-ed a cross-sectional survey using structured questionnaires to evaluate fear of falling and activities of daily living among participants. Vestibular function was assessed via a rotary chair test. This study was conduct-ed from January through March 2018. The subjects were 167 individuals older than 20 years who agreed to participate in this study. Data were analyzed using SPSS ver. 22.0. The significant variables associated with fear of falling were gender (P=0.012), age (P<0.001), marital status (P=0.006), living alone (P=0.020), having a job (P<0.001), frequency of dizziness (P=0.007), use of antivertigo medication (P<0.001), and history of falling (P<0.001). Fear of falling showed statistically significant positive correlations with activities of daily living (r=0.82, P<0.001) and dizziness (r=0.61, P<0.001). In the multiple regression analysis, age, gender, history of falling, and severity of dizziness explained 53.4% of the variance in fear of falling. The results of this study demonstrate that thoroughly assessing predictors making an impact on fear of falling in the initial assessment and the level of fear of falling needs to be addressed early to prevent sedentary behavior.

Keywords: Dizziness; Falls; Fear; Hypofunction; Vestibular.