Association between exercise and fear of falling in community-dwelling elderly Koreans: results of a cross-sectional public opinion survey

Lim J-Y, Jang S-N, Park W-B, Oh MK, Kang EK, Paik N-J. Association between exercise and fear of falling in community-dwelling elderly Koreans: results of a cross-sectional public opinion survey.

Objective

To investigate the association between habitual exercise and fear of falling in an older Korean population.

Design

Cross-sectional study conducted in a population-based sample of an urban city.

Setting

Urban city in South Korea.

Participants

Randomly sampled older Korean people (N=828; aged ≥65y) living in a typical urban city located in South Korea.

Intervention

Standardized telephone interview.

Main Outcome Measures

Data on exercise habits, history of falls during the previous year, and fear of falling were obtained using a random digit dialing telephone survey method. Multiple linear regression and multiple logistic regression analyses were used to examine the association between exercise habits and the fear of falling.

Results

The incidence of falls in the study cohort was 13%, and the prevalence of the fear of falling was 67.4% (47.6% in men and 80.8% in women). About 30% of those that expressed a fear of falling stated that this was the cause of their limited activity. Older men and women who exercised regularly showed a similar level of fear of falling, but they were less likely to experience fear-related activity restriction than nonexercisers.

Conclusions

A regular exercise habit was found to be inversely associated with fear-related activity restriction regardless of fall experience among older Korean men and women.