Prospective study of the impact of fear of falling on activities of daily living, SF-36 scores, and nursing home admission. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2000; 55: M299–M305

The aim of this study was to assess the impact of fear of falling on the health of older people. Methods. A total of 528 subjects (mean age 77 years) were recruited from two hospitals in Sydney, Australia, and followed for approximately 12 months. Eighty-five subjects died during follow-up, and 31 were admitted to an aged care institution. Tinetti’s Falls Efficacy Scale (FES) was successfully administered to 418 subjects as part of the baseline as-sessment. Among those with baseline FES scores, ability to perform 10 activities of daily living (ADLs) was assessed at baseline and follow-up in 307 subjects, and SF-36 scores were assessed at baseline and follow-up in 90 subjects re-cruited during the latter part of the study. Falls during follow-up were identified using a monthly falls calendar. Results