Laboratory of Aging, Resources and Rheumatology, Department of Health Sciences, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Campus Araranguá, Rod. Governador Jorge Lacerda, 3201, Urussanguinha, 88906-072, Araranguá, Santa Catarina, Brazil.
Medical Sciences of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Arch Gerontol Geriatr. 2021 Jul-Aug;95:104395. doi: 10.1016/j.archger.2021.104395. Epub 2021 Mar 16.
Characteristics of a built neighborhood may aggravate agravett to fear of falling in older adults and this knowledge are important to contribute to developing strategies aimed at reducing fear of falling and their consequences.
To verify the association between self-perception of built neighborhood characteristics and fear of falling in community-dwelling older adults.
This was a cross-sectional study including 308 community-dwelling older adults. The outcome was fear of falling evaluated through Falls Efficacy Scale International. Older adults were classified with high fear of falling when they obtained values ≥ 23 points and classified as low fear of falling with score < 23 point. The built neighborhood variables were evaluated by the adapted Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to verify associations between the variables.
The prevalence of fear of falling was 48.40%. Significant negative associations were observed between residing near a bus stop, outdoor gyms, safe places to walk during the day, and positive associations between garbage accumulation and/or open sewers and high crime rates and fear of falling.
The association between self-perceived characteristics of built neighborhoods and fear of falling points to the need for improvements in urban infrastructure, especially public spaces, in order to reduce fear of falling in community-dwelling older adults.
居住环境的特点可能会加重老年人对跌倒的恐惧，了解这些特点对于制定旨在减少跌倒恐惧及其后果的策略非常重要。
验证社区居住的老年人对居住环境特点的自我感知与跌倒恐惧之间的关系。
这是一项横断面研究，共纳入 308 名社区居住的老年人。跌倒恐惧的评估通过跌倒效能量表国际版进行。当老年人获得≥23 分的分数时，被归类为有高跌倒恐惧，而得分<23 分的被归类为低跌倒恐惧。居住环境的变量通过适应后的邻里环境步行能力量表进行评估。采用多变量逻辑回归来验证变量之间的关联。
跌倒恐惧的患病率为 48.40%。居住在公共汽车站附近、户外健身房、白天安全行走的地方与跌倒恐惧呈显著负相关，而垃圾堆积和/或露天污水渠以及高犯罪率与跌倒恐惧呈显著正相关。
自我感知的居住环境特点与跌倒恐惧之间的关联表明，需要改善城市基础设施，特别是公共空间，以减少社区居住的老年人的跌倒恐惧。
