• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.7-19
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• 2006

Falls are a major sources of death and injury in elderly people. Aged-related changes in the physiological systems which contribute to the maintenance of balance are well documented in older adults. These changes coupled with age-related changes in muscle and bone are likely to contribute to an increased risk of falls in this population. Regular exercise may be one way of preventing falls and fall-related fractures. However, the optimal exercise prescription to prevent falls has not yet been defined. On the literature review of exercise intervention for fall prevention in the elderly, exercise appeared to be a useful tool in fall prevention by improving fall risk factors. The optimum exercise prescription; moderate intensity frequency of 3-4 times per week, duration of 30-60minutes can contribute to decreased hazards and number of fall. Fall prevention protocol should include safety, falling effect, enjoyment, and easiness to follow for older people. Effective exercise programs suggested for fall prevention were such as weight-bearing exercise, resistance exercise, lower muscle strength with elastic band, swiss ball exercise walking, tai chi, and yoga.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.215-224
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• 2014

Purpose: This study was conducted to identify risk factors in hospitalized children, and to develop and validate a fall-risk assessment tool for hospitalized children. Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed at one university children's hospital, and an analysis was done of the characteristics of all patients who fell during a 44-month period (n=48). These patients were compared with another 149 hospitalized children who did not fall. Results: Significant predictors of falls as identified in a multivariate logistic regression analyses were age of less than 3 years old, neurological diagnosis including epilepsy, children's dependency of ADL, physical developmental delay, multiple usage of fall-risk-increasing drugs. The respective odds ratios ranged from 2.4 to 7.1 with 95% confidence interval (p<0.05). Accordingly, defining patients with either 5 risk factors as fall-prone hospitalized children provided a sensitivity of 93.6% and specificity of 16.2%. Conclusion: The results show that this tool has an acceptable level of sensitivity to assess the risk factors of fall in hospitalized children even though the specificity was low, suggesting that this tool may enable nurses to predict the risk level of childhood falls, and develop preventive strategies against pediatric falls in children's units.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.495-508
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• 2014

Purpose: This study was conducted in order to evaluate the reliability, validity, sensitivity, and specificity of the Short Form of Bobath Memorial Hospital Fall Risk Assessment Scale (BMFRAS-SF). Methods: A validation study was conducted on 207 elderly patients aged over 65 who were admitted to Bobath Memorial Hospital. Fall risk scores of BMFRAS, composed of eight subscales (age, fall history, physical activity, consciousness level, communication, fall risk factors, underlying disease, and medications) were assessed from the electronic medical record. BMFRAS-SF was derived from eight subscales of the BMFRAS representing the significance between fallers and non-fallers (fall history, physical activity, fall risk factors, underlying disease, and medications). Internal consistency reliability and interrater reliability were assessed by Cronbach's alpha and kappa coefficient. Validity was assessed by Spearman correlation analysis, factor analysis. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive and negative predictive values, and a receiver-operating characteristic curve (ROC) were generated. Results: Fallers had significantly higher risk scores than non-fallers in fall history, physical activity, fall risk factors, underlying disease, and medication scales. The BMFRAS-SF demonstrated acceptable Cronbach's alpha (.706) and kappa coefficients of .95. The BMFRAS-SF subscales showed good convergent validity and construct validity. The BMFRAS-SF presented good sensitivity(86.7%), specificity(67.9%), positive predictive value(42.9%) and good negative predictive value(94.8%) at a cut-off score of 5. Areas under the ROC curves were .860 for the BMFRAS and .861 for the BMFRAS-SF. Conclusion: The BMFRAS-SF was proved to be reliable and valid. It could be used for time-saving assessment and evaluation of the high risks for falls in clinical practice settings.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.155-163
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• 2016

Objective: This study aims to draw the characteristics of occupational accidents occurred in cabling work, and assess accident severity based on occupational injury data. Background: Accident factors and accident risk are different by the place of work in cabling work. Field managers require information on accident prevention that can be easily understood by workers. However, there has been a lack of studies that focus on cabling work in Korea. Method: This study classifies 450 injured persons caused in cabling work by process, and analyzes the characteristics of occupational injuries from the aspects of age, work experience and accident type. This study also analyzes accident frequency and severity of injury. Results: Results show that preparing/finishing (33.3%) was the most common type of cabling process in injuries, followed by maintenance (28.4%), routing/income (23.1%) and wiring/installation (15.1%) process. The critical incidents in the level of risk management were falls from height in the routing/incoming process, and falls from height in the maintenance process. And, incidents ranked as 'High' level of risk management were slips and trips, fall from height and vehicle incident in the preparing/finishing process, and fall from height in the wiring/installation process. Conclusion and Application: The relative frequency of accident and its severity by working process serve as important information for accident prevention, and are critical for determining priorities in preventive measures.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.151-161
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• 2024

Purpose: Patients' perception of fall risk is a promising new indicator for fall prevention. Therefore, a fall risk perception questionnaire that can be used rapidly and repeatedly in acute care settings is required. This study aimed to develop a short version of the fall risk perception questionnaire (Short-FRPQ) for inpatients. Methods: For the psychometric measurements, 246 inpatients were recruited from an acute care hospital. The construct (using confirmatory factor analysis and discriminant validity of each item), convergent, and known-group validities were tested to determine the validity of the Short-FRPQ. McDonald's omega coefficient was used to examine the internal consistency of reliability. Results: In the confirmatory factor analysis, the fit indices of the Short-FRPQ, comprising 14 items and three factors, appeared to be satisfactory. The Short-FRPQ had a significantly positive correlation with the original scale, the Korean Falls Efficacy Scale-International, and the Morse Fall Scale. The risk of falls group, assessed using the Morse Fall Scale, had a higher score on the Short-FRPQ. McDonald's omega coefficient was .90. Conclusion: The Short-FRPQ presents good reliability and validity. As patient participation is essential in fall interventions, evaluating the fall risk perception of inpatients quickly and repeatedly using scales of acceptable validity and reliability is necessary.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.161-171
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• 1998

Balance can be defined as the ability to maintain the body's center of gravity within the base of support with minimal sway. Falls occur frequently in the elderly persons by the physiological change and dysfunction with age. Injuries resulting from falls include soft tissue damage and fractures of the radius, humerus, and femoral neck other consequences of falls include decreased mobility, reduced confidence, long lies (which can give rise to hypothermia, dehydration and pneumonia), and death Risk factors for falls have beau classified as intrinsic (those related to the individual) and extrinsic(those associated with environmental features), Intrinsic factors include decreased strength, visual deficits, vestibular dysfunction, and decreased vibratory sensation in the feet. Improvement of the balance related to the increased probability for fells in the elderly persons and is important for fall preventions and improvement of the living quality ef the elderly persons

• Journal of East-West Nursing Research
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.122-131
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• 2022

Purpose: This study aimed to identify the factors related to fear of falling (FOF) in different age groups from community-dwelling mid to late-adults. Methods: To identify the factors related to FOF, data of 162,684 adults over 45 years of age from 2019 Community Health Survey was analyzed using logistic regression with complex samples. Results: Factors related to FOF found in all age groups were sex, previous experience of falls, physical activity levels over moderate intensity, subjective health status, number of chronic diseases, stress, depression, and cognitive decline. In the 45-64 age group, the FOF was significantly higher in the groups of low education level and low monthly household income. In the 65-74 and over 75 age groups, the FOF was significantly higher in the groups of not living with spouse and walking not practiced. Conclusion: We suggests that understanding of risk factors and early detection of fall risk patients in each age group are necessary to establish and apply tailored fall prevention programs for prevention and management of the FOF in community-dwelling mid to late-adults.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.533-542
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• 2014

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to understand the risk of falling associated with postmenopausal women and to identify the relationships between this risk and factors such as lifestyle, metabolic syndrome, and bone mineral density. Methods: The sample was 128 postmenopausal women between 50 and 65 from one menopausal clinic in an urban city. The Risk Assessment for Falls Scale II, developed by Glydenvand and Reinboth (1982) and adapted by Park Young-Hye (2003), was modified and used for this study. Results: The average fall-risk score in postmenopausal women was 7.2 out of 33, the fall-risk score associated with lifestyle was higher in women exposed to stress frequently or who favored spicy or salty foods. The fall-risk score associated with metabolic syndrome was higher in groups with HBP or with a waist circumference of 80cm or greater. The fall-risk score in groups with three or more factors of metabolic syndrome was the highest. Conclusion: The risk of fall in post-menopausal women was higher in groups with only elementary education, unemployed, reported two or more chronic diseases or reported frequent exposure to stress and for women who preferred spicy or salty foods or exhibited three or more factors of metabolic syndrome.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.413-421
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• 2015

Objective : The purpose of this study was to investigate biomechanical changes of the lower limb including dynamic stability with changes in illumination (300Lx, 150Lx, and 5Lx) and slope (level and $15^{\circ}$ downhill) as risk factors for elderly falls. Method : Fifteen elderly females were selected for this study. Seven infrared cameras (Proreflex MCU 240: Qualisys, Sweden) and an instrumented treadmill (Bertec, USA) surrounded by illumination regulators and lights to change the levels of illumination were used to collect the data. A One-Way ANOVA with repeated measures using SPSS 12.0 was used to analyze statistical differences by the changes in illumination and slope. Statistical significance was set at ${\alpha}=.05$. Results : No differences in the joint movement of the lower limbs were found with changes in illumination (p>.05). The maximum plantar flexion movement of the ankle joints appeared to be greater at 5Lx compared to 300Lx during slope gait (p<.05). Additionally, maximum extension movement of the hip joints appeared to be greater at 5Lx and 150Lx compared to 300Lx during slope gait (p<.05). The maximum COM-COP angular velocity (direction to medial side of the body) of dynamic stability appeared to be smaller at 150Lx and 300Lx compared to 5Lx during level gait (p<.05). The minimum COM-COP angular velocity (direction to lateral side to the body) of dynamic stability appeared smaller at 150Lx compared to 5Lx during level gait (p<.05). Conclusion : In conclusion, elderly people use a stabilization strategy that reduces walk speed and dynamic stability as darkness increases. Therefore, the changes in illumination during gait induce the changes in gait mechanics which may increase the levels of biomechanical risk in elderly falls.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.220-229
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• 2013

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to investigate activities-specific balance confidence and risk of fallings among rehabilitation patients with impaired of mobility, and to identify the influence of activities-specific balance confidence on their risk of fallings. Method: Data for 132 rehabilitation patients were collected between October June 20 and August 20, 2012 at nine hospitals in a metropolitan city. Data were analyzed using t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficient and stepwise multiple regression with SPSS/WIN 20.0. Result: The mean score for rehabilitation patients' activities-specific balance confidence was 40.18 out of a possible range of 0-100 and the mean score for risk of fallings among rehabilitation patients was 31.10 within a possible range of 0-125. Significant factors affecting the risk of fallings among the rehabilitation patients were 'activity level', 'dementia', 'body mass index', 'anxiety', and 'presence of a caregiver', which together explained 34.7% of the variance. The most significantly factor influencing rehabilitation patients' risk of fallings was activities-specific balance confidence which explained 23.5% of the variance. Conclusion: The study results indicate that activities-specific balance confidence as well as physical factors should be considered for interventions to decrease risk of fallings in rehabilitation patients with impaired mobility.