IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i6p4945-d1094283.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effects of Muscle Strength, Agility, and Fear of Falling on Risk of Falling in Older Adults

Author

Listed:
  • Filipe Rodrigues

    (ESECS—Polytechnic of Leiria, 2411-901 Leiria, Portugal
    Life Quality Research Center, 2040-413 Leiria, Portugal)

  • António M. Monteiro

    (Department of Sport Sciences and Physical Education, Polytechnic of Bragança, 5300-253 Bragança, Portugal
    Research Centre in Sports Sciences, Health, and Human Development, 6201-001 Covilhã, Portugal)

  • Pedro Forte

    (Department of Sport Sciences and Physical Education, Polytechnic of Bragança, 5300-253 Bragança, Portugal
    Research Centre in Sports Sciences, Health, and Human Development, 6201-001 Covilhã, Portugal
    ISCE Douro, 4560-708 Penafiel, Portugal)

  • Pedro Morouço

    (ESECS—Polytechnic of Leiria, 2411-901 Leiria, Portugal
    Center for Innovative Care and Health Technology (CiTechcare), 2410-541 Leiria, Portugal)

Abstract

Falls are a major public health problem among older adults because they lead to premature mortality, loss of autonomy, and increased dependence on others. However, these associations have not been explored using procedures that analyze the sequential effects between risk factors of falling. The present study aimed to examine the effects of muscle strength, agility, and fear of falling on risk of falling using path analysis in community-dwelling older adults. In total, 49 elderly (female = 33, male = 16) participants aged between 65 and 76 years (M = 68.38 years; SD = 6.22) were included for analysis. Muscle strength, agility, fear of falling, and risk of falling were assessed using validated instruments for the older adult population. The proposed model shows that muscle strength was negatively associated with agility. Consequently, agility was negatively associated with fear of falling. The same trend appeared between fear of falling and risk of falling. The effect sizes were between small and medium for agility ( R 2 = 0.16), fear of falling, ( R 2 = 0.29), and risk of falling ( R 2 = 0.03). The main finding of the present study was that muscle strength was significantly correlated with agility, which, in turn, predicted fear of falling. Consequently, lower scores for fear of falling explained lower risk of falling in community-dwelling older adults. While muscle strength is a crucial component of physical fitness, only with adequate levels of agility can older adults possess the efficacy and ability to perform daily tasks.

Suggested Citation

  • Filipe Rodrigues & António M. Monteiro & Pedro Forte & Pedro Morouço, 2023. "Effects of Muscle Strength, Agility, and Fear of Falling on Risk of Falling in Older Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-8, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:6:p:4945-:d:1094283
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/6/4945/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/6/4945/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Van-Anh Thi Ha & Tam Ngoc Nguyen & Thanh Xuan Nguyen & Huong Thi Thu Nguyen & Thu Thi Hoai Nguyen & Anh Trung Nguyen & Thang Pham & Huyen Thi Thanh Vu, 2021. "Prevalence and Factors Associated with Falls among Older Outpatients," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-11, April.
    2. Filipe Rodrigues & Christophe Domingos & Diogo Monteiro & Pedro Morouço, 2022. "A Review on Aging, Sarcopenia, Falls, and Resistance Training in Community-Dwelling Older Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(2), pages 1-11, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kun Wang & Meijun Chen & Xiaoyue Zhang & Lanchao Zhang & Chun Chang & Yu Tian & Xiaofeng Wang & Zhijing Li & Ying Ji, 2022. "The Incidence of Falls and Related Factors among Chinese Elderly Community Residents in Six Provinces," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-15, November.
    2. Andréa Gomes Martins Gaspar & Pedro Escada & Luís Velez Lapão, 2021. "How Can We Develop an Efficient eHealth Service for Provision of Care for Elderly People with Balance Disorders and Risk of Falling? A Mixed Methods Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-18, July.
    3. Andréa Gomes Martins Gaspar & Luís Velez Lapão, 2022. "A Digital Health Service for Elderly People with Balance Disorders and Risk of Falling: A Design Science Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-17, February.
    4. Alex Barreto de Lima & Fátima Baptista & Duarte Henrinques-Neto & André de Araújo Pinto & Elvio Rúbio Gouveia, 2023. "Symptoms of Sarcopenia and Physical Fitness through the Senior Fitness Test," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-10, February.
    5. Chen Li & Jiaji Wu & Yi Huang, 2023. "Spatial–Temporal Patterns and Coupling Characteristics of Rural Elderly Care Institutions in China: Sustainable Human Settlements Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-27, February.
    6. Niruwan Turnbull & Pichayasuda Cherdsakul & Sutin Chanaboon & David Hughes & Kukiat Tudpor, 2022. "Tooth Loss, Cognitive Impairment and Fall Risk: A Cross-Sectional Study of Older Adults in Rural Thailand," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-9, November.
    7. Pedro Morouço, 2024. "Wearable Technology and Its Influence on Motor Development and Biomechanical Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(9), pages 1-9, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:6:p:4945-:d:1094283. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.