Fear of falling may increase chance of actually falling

Results of a recent study may give those providing eldercare with a new insight into what causes injury in the elderly. According The Daily Telegraph, the study, which was published in the British Medical Journal, shows that there is a correlation between the fear of falling, and actually falling.


The news source reports that scientists focused on 500 individuals between the ages of 70 and 90 and investigated how worried they were with experiencing a fall.

Using neuropsycholgoical assessments to separate the groups by their concern, the researchers followed participants for a year and charted the instance of falls.


"Overall, it seems that high levels of perceived fall risk may lead to future falls, independent of physiological risk, and that the disparity between physiological and perceived fall risk contributes to fall risk mainly through psychological pathways," lead author Stephen Lord told the news provider.


Falls in older adults can be a significant health risk that can cause broken bones and other disabilities. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that more than one-third of adults over 65 experience a fall and 20 to 30 percent of those suffer serious injuries such as bruises, head trauma or hip fractures.


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