Fear of Falling Avoidance Behavior on Daily Living Activities and Physical Activity in Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of avoidance behavior due to fear of falling on dependency levels in activities of daily living and physical activity levels in older adults. This study is a cross-sectional research design. Data were collected between November 2023 and March 2024. A total of 506 individuals aged 65 years and over participated in the study (mean age 71.26). It was determined that the older adults had low level of fear of falling avoidance behaviors were fully independent in activities of daily living and had low level of physical activity. The multiple linear regression analysis showed that age, marital status, education, living with and fear of falling avoidance behavior affected daily living activities; age, place of residence, gender, income status, chronic disease status, and fear of falling avoidance behavior affected physical activity level (R2 = 0.183; R2 = 0.197, respectively). This study revealed the necessity of interventions to prevent fear of falling avoidance behaviors in order to increase the activities of daily living and physical activity levels among older adults.