Falls efficacy among stroke survivors living in the community

Abstract

Purpose. The study focused on the falls efficacy of stroke survivors in the community and its association with the related factors.

Method. The study was conducted through a cross-sectional design in the community setting. One hundred seven stroke survivors were recruited. Falls efficacy was measured by the 7-item Falls Efficacy Scale International version, where the higher mean score showed more concern about falling in daily life.

Results. Activities of daily living (ADL) dependency levels, including mild, moderate and severe, contributed to 33.5%% of the explained variance. Women were over 7.5 times more likely to have high falls efficacy than men. Moderate and severe ADL dependency participants were 10.8 and 13.6 times more likely to have high falls efficacy than ADL independent participants. Single fall participants were also nearly 13 times more likely to have high falls efficacy than others who had either recurrent falls or no falls.

Conclusions. Female gender, strong ADL dependency, and single falls were associated with high falls efficacy. The levels of ADL dependency were the most correlated with falls efficacy than with other related factors. Rehabilitation interventions should also be incorporated to minimise ADL dependency, and to improve falls efficacy for stroke survivors.

Keywords:

• Stroke
• fear of falling
• falls efficacy
• activities of daily living

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge all the subjects who participated in the study. The authors would also like to give our special thanks to the members in the Department of Neurology, Cheng-Hsin General Hospital in Taipei for their full support.