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JFSF Vol 10, No 1, March 2025, p.18-27

doi: 10.22540/JFSF-10-018

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Original Article

Associations of Frailty, Concerns About Falling, and Fall Risk in Community-Dwelling Older Adults in Orlando, Florida: A Preliminary Analysis

Abigail L. Tice1, Rui Xie1,2, Wei Zhang3, Norma E. Conner1,4, Yingru Li5, Christopher T. Emrich6, Qun Huo7,8, Ladda Thiamwong1,4

  1. College of Nursing, University of Central Florida, USA
  2. Department of Statistics and Data Science, University of Central Florida, USA
  3. Department of Computer Science, University of Central Florida, USA
  4. Disability, Aging and Technology Cluster, University of Central Florida, USA
  5. Department of Sociology, University of Central Florida, USA
  6. College of Community Innovation and Education, University of Central Florida, USA
  7. Department of Chemistry, University of Central Florida, USA
  8. Nano Science Technology Center, University of Central Florida, USA

Keywords: Community, Concerns about falling, Fall risk, Frailty, Older adults

Abstract

Objectives: This study examines relationships between frailty, concerns about falling (CaF), and fall risk in community-dwelling older adults (≥60 years old). Methods: Frailty, CaF, and fall risk were cross-sectionally assessed using the FRAIL, short FES-I, and STEADI questionnaires in 178 participants. Spearman correlations, logistical regression, and ordinal regression analysis were performed. Results: 38.2% of participants were robust, 48.9% pre-frail, and 12.9% frail. Logistic regressions revealed that frail individuals were 91.4% more likely to have CaF compared to non-frail individuals, and individuals with lower fall risk were 5.7 times less likely to have CaF than those with no fall risk. Pre-frail individuals were more likely to have fall risk than non-frail individuals. Individuals with low CaF were 6 times less likely to have fall risk than those with high CaF. Ordinal logistic regressions revealed that for individuals with no CaF and no fall risk, the odds of being frail were 69.5% and 86.7% lower, respectively, than those with high CaF and high fall risk. Conclusions: Frailty relationships with fall risk and CaF indicate the importance of addressing frailty to aid in fall prevention in older adults. Further, addressing the CaF mentality is important in fall prevention in older adults. ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT05778604.
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