Journal of

Introduction and purpose: Fear of falling is one of the main health problems among elder people which affect their quality of life. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between fear of falling and quality of life in community-dwelling elders.

Materials and Methods: The current research is Cross-Sectional descriptive study in which 200 community dwelling elders, aged 60 to 84 years, participated. Using convenience sampling, data collected through Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I) and SF-36 (short form) questionnaires in Retirement Center of Tabriz in 2011. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation by SPSS 11.5 and p.value < 0.01 was considered as the significance level.

Findings: The mean age of the participants was 64.86± 4.011 years and 174 (87%) of them were men. The results of this study indicated that increasing fear of falling score lead to reduction in quality of life score. Furthermore, there was a significant and negative correlation between the two dimensions of FES-I and the eight subscales of SF-36. A similar pattern exist for the correlation between total score of FES-I and the two subscales of SF-36 (physical and mental health) as well as significant and negative correlation between total score of FES-I and its dimensions with total score of SF-36 (All P<0.01). Conclusion: One of the most important consequences for fear of falling among elderly is reduction in quality of life. Therefore, it is recommended to provide elderly with interventional programs targeted at reduction of fear of falling which can be offered by health care professionals.