O medo de cair em idosos institucionalizados e residentes na comunidade

Resumo (EN)

Objective – To verify the prevalence of fear of falling among institutionalized elderly people and residents of the community. Methods – 28 elderly people, aged between 60 and 81 years old, of both genders, living in long-term institutions (ILP’s) and in the community participated in this study. A sociodemographic and clinical interview was carried out, in addition to evaluation by the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Activities-Specific Balance Confidence scale (ABC). Results – It was observed that 33% of institutionalized and 8% of residents in the community were very afraid of falling, 33% and none with low level of physical functioning respectively. Conclusions – Institutionalized individuals showed a greater fear of falling when compared to residents in the community, thus demonstrating that institutionalized elderly participants in this research have a greater risk of future falls.