Characteristics of community-dwelling older adults with fall experience who have low fall self-efficacy relative to balance ability

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the characteristics of elderly people with fall experience who have low fall self-efficacy relative to balance ability. A total of 144 community-dwelling elderly participants were included in the study and their fall selfefficacy was assessed using the Falling Self-Efficacy Scale (FSE) and their history of falls in the past year. Then, the balance ability was evaluated using the Mini-BESTest. No significant differences were observed between the non-fall and fall groups in the MiniBESTest and FSE scores. In the fall group, those with a balance ability that matched their fall self-efficacy (matched group) were compared with those with fall self-efficacy lower than their balance ability (discrepant group). The results showed that the discrepant group showed significantly lower scores in the total score of FSE, “crouching,” “walking in shoes that are difficult to walk in,” and “climbing stairs without handrails” than the matched group, and the effect sizes of these items were larger. These results suggest that community-dwelling elderly people with low fall self-efficacy for balance ability have lower self-efficacy for activities they have few experiences in daily life.