Correlation of Balance with Fear of Fall and Physical Function in Old Age People - A Cross Sectional Study

INTRODUCTION Fear of falling in elderly is a major cause of loss of independence, which has an effect on the physical function in them. The aim of the study was to correlate balance with fear of fall and physical function in elderly people. MATERIAL AND METHOD A correlation study was conducted at New Ciivil Hospital where balance, fear of fall and physical function were assessed in 90 subject both males and females. Exclusion criteria were subject with history of neurological diseases, fracture or acute illness or injury on the day of functional assessment. Outcome measure included fear of fall measured using Morse Fall Scale (MFS), Balance was measured using Berg Balance Scale (BBS) and physical function was assessed using FIM scale. Level of significance was kept at 5 %. Spearman correlation was applied to find the correlation between BBS and MFS and between BBS and FIM. RESULT A negative correlation was found between BBS and MFS (r =-0.71235) and a positive correlation between BBS and FIM (r =0.774929) which were significant. CONCLUSION The study concluded that there is a correlation of balance and fear of fall and physical function in elderly people.