Investigating the ability of the FES-I to predict GABAb
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Is Fear of Falling key to identifying gait and balance abnormalities in community dwelling older adults? A mixed methods approach.
IRAS ID
314705
Contact name
Steve Parry
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Newcastle University
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
NIHR200173,
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 1 days
Research summary
Around a third of community dwelling adults over the age of 65 fall each year, with around half experiencing more than one fall per year. Falls are often linked with poor gait and balance, along with a lack of strength. Fear of falling has been reported to have a higher prevalence in women than men, and is more common as people get older. Measuring fear of falling has been found to predict whether someone will fall, along with worse physical performance. Fear of falling has been shown to improve if a person exercises or is more active. One of the ways to measure whether a person is afraid of falling is the Falls Efficacy Scale International version (FES-I), which has been used a lot in research and clinics.
This project aims to see if the FES-I can predict poor gait and balance; it will be the first time this has been attempted prospectively. Predicting poor gait and balance with an easy-to-use questionnaire like FES-I has the potential to reduce the cost of falls on the NHS, which currently costs £4.8 billion per year. Correctly predicting who is at risk of falling to give them the help they need to become stronger is important to reduce this cost.
REC name
London - London Bridge Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/PR/0812
Date of REC Opinion
18 Jul 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion