Fear among the elderly of suffering recurring falls: the gait as a determining factor of functional independence
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2317-0190.v17i3a103353Keywords:
Aged, Accidental Falls, Gait, Activities of Daily LivingAbstract
This study was carried out with 60 sedentary elderly females, aged between 68 and 70 years and with histories of falls, registered in the “Idoso Feliz” Program in the city of Rio de Janeiro/RJ, and sought to identify the fear of having repeated falls. Initially, an inquiry was done about the occurrence of falls in the group participating in the research. Interviews were then made by means of the Falls Efficacy Scale- International-Brazil to evaluate the group in relation to the concern with falling during the practice of 16 daily activities. Their dynamic gait profile was also evaluated using the Dynamic Gait Index. In relation to the concern by the elderly with falling, 40.11% mentioned no concern, 30% reported some concern, 25.33% moderate concern, and 4.6% were very concerned. The activities for which they showed more concern: taking a bath, walking on slippery or irregular surfaces, walking in a crowded place, and going out to social events. On evaluating the dynamic gait index, the majority of the population had a result considered predictive of falls since most of the elderly scored less than 19 points. It could be concluded that the majority of the investigated population showed at least low or moderate concern for suffering recurrent falls in the practice of everyday life activities, physical activities, and social activities, especially when these require muscular strength and balance. This can be justified, in part, by the unsatisfactory dynamic gait index detected, which implies the presence of abnormalities in that biomechanical function.
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