Abstract
[Purpose] The purpose of this study is to investigate whether lower Fall-related self-efficacy in the elderly would cause a decrease in their Instrumental Activities of Daily Life (IADLs) in one year, and whether the Fall-related self-efficacy in elderly people would decrease after falling. [Methods] The participants were 86 elderly cared for at day care centers, followed for one year. At baseline and at follow-up, the participants were asked how many times they had fallen down in the past year. We also evaluated their Fall-related self-efficacy using the Modified Falls Efficacy Scale (MFES) and evaluated IADLs using the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology (TMIG) Index, via an interview. First, the differences in the TMIG Index for one year were compared between the participants with lower MFES and the participants with higher MFES at baseline. Moreover, the differences in MFES for one year were compared between the participants who had fallen and those who hadn't fallen for one year by follow-up. [Results] 27 participants had fallen down at least once by the follow-up. The participants who had lower Fall-related self-efficacy didn't experience a significant decrease in their IADLs compared with participants who had higher Fall-related self-efficacy in one year. Moreover, the Fall-related self-efficacy in the participants who had fallen, didn't significantly decrease compared with that of the participants who hadn't fallen for one year. It may be necessary to adopt scales which evaluate the Fall-related self-efficacy depending on the degree of functional ability in participants.
