The influence of falls on the quality of life of the aged

The objective of this study is to analyze the effect of falls and their consequences on the quality of life of elderly people living in a low-income community in the city of Rio de Janeiro. This article is part of an explorative research conducted at CLAVES, using quantitative and qualitative methods. In this study we used quantitative data about falls and quality of life. 72 elderly aged over 60 years participated in the study. 51,4% of them were females, 20,8% lived alone and 37,5% admitted having suffered a fall during the last year. Among the most frequently mentioned consequences were fractures (24,3%), the fear of falling (88,5%), abandonment of activities (26,9%), change of habits (23,1%) and immobilization (19%). The analysis showed that falls have influence upon in the quality of life of the aged. The WHOQOL-Bref domain scores showed a reduction in the means of the group that had suffered falls during the last year in comparison to those who didn't fall, and the difference was more significant in the psychological field. In short, falls are frequent among the elderly and bring consequences that change the quality of life of these people in a negative way. Their incidence can be avoided by identifying the causes and developing appropriate preventive measures.