COVARIATES OF FEAR OF FALLING AND ASSOCIATED ACTIVITY CURTAILMENT

With a sample survey (N = 266) of elderly adults residing in six housi ng developments in Massachusetts, we used logistic regression to: (a) identify covariates of fear of falling among all subjects and (b) iden tify covariates of activity curtailment among the subset of subjects w ho were afraid of falling. Fifty-five percent of respondents were afra id of falling; of those who were afraid, 56% had curtailed activity du e to this fear. Factors associated with fear of falling were: being fe male, having had previous falls, and having fewer social contacts. Fac tors associated with activity curtailment among those who were afraid were: not communicating about falls; having less social support; and k nowing someone who had fallen. Falls history appears an important cont ributor to fear of falling, whereas the impact of this fear on activit ies appears more a function of social support. These findings suggest different strategies for the primary and secondary prevention of fear of falling.