Exploring Fear of Falling and Exercise Self-Efficacy in Older Women With Vertebral Fractures
in Journal of Aging and Physical ActivityFear of falling is a common issue among older adults, which decreases quality of life and leads to an avoidance of activities they are still able to do. The goal of this secondary data analysis was to explore the relationship between fear of falling and exercise self-efficacy in 141 women with at least one nontraumatic Genant Grade 2 vertebral fracture. Fear of falling, exercise self-efficacy, history of falling, the number of falls, the use of assisting devices, and pain at rest or during movement were obtained using medical history and health status questionnaires. There was a negative association between fear of falling and exercise self-efficacy (pseudo R2 = .253; p = .004), which persisted when the analysis was adjusted for history and number of falls, use of assistive devices, and pain at rest (pseudo R2 = .329; p < .0001) or during movement (pseudo R2 = .321; p < .0001). Fear of falling may be negatively associated with exercise self-efficacy in older women with vertebral fracture.
Ponzano and Giangregorio are with the Department of Kinesiology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Gibbs is with the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Adachi, Khan, McArthur, Papaioannou, and Thabane are with McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Adachi and Thabane are also with the St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Ashe and Kendler are with The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Ashe is also with the Centre for Hip Health and Mobility, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Cheung is with the University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Hill is with the School of Primary and Allied Health Care, Monash University, Frankston, Victoria, Australia. McArthur and Papaioannou are also with the Geriatric Education and Research in Aging Sciences Centre, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Wark is with the University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; and The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, Victoria, Australia. Giangregorio is also with the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; and the Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
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