Journal of

Introduction and purpose: Falls and fear of falling are elderly outcomes and are of main health-related problems in older adults. Purpose of this research was to compare health-related quality of life and functional fitness of older adults with and without fear of falling and fall history.

Materials and Methods: Research method was descriptive and population were men older adults living in Arak that 91 subjects eligible participate in the study voluntarily.  Variables measured with SF-36, Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale, Senior Functional Fitness Battery, MMSE, and Fall frequency. Data analyzed with independent t-student and with SPSS-16 software.

Findings: The results indicated that about 32% and 27% of subjects had fear of falling and fall history, respectively. Mean scores of subjects in without fear of falling group than with fear of falling counterparts in all subscales of quality of life and functional fitness(exception of flexibility) was higher significantly (p≤ .05).  Mean scores of subjects in without fall history group than with fall history group in subscales of quality of life and functional fitness (exception of flexibility) was better significantly (p≤ .05).

Conclusion: Fear of falling and fall history results in avoidance of daily living activities and this activities avoidance may cause functional fitness decline and in results decline in older adults' quality of life and health.