• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.471-478
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• 2021

Background: The effect of lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) and peripheral vascular disease (PVD), which occurs with similar degenerative conditions, when seen together, has not been studied. The aim of this study is to examine and compare the relationship between pain, balance, disability, fear of falling, and kinesiophobia in LSS patients with intermittent vascular claudication (IVC). Methods: Seventy-two patients diagnosed with LSS using magnetic resonance imaging participated in this study. Thirty-five patients with IVC symptoms and showing vascular lesions by lower extremity venous and arterial Doppler ultrasonography imaging were included in the IVC-LSS group. The pain, static balance, dynamic balance, disability, fear of falling, and kinesiophobia were evaluated using the numeric rating scale, single leg stance test, Time Up and Go (TUG), the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), Fall Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I), and Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK), respectively. Results: Age and female sex were found to be higher in the IVC-LSS group (P = 0.024; P = 0.012). The IVC-LSS group had a shorter single leg stance time and TUG test duration, pain intensity, ODI, FES-I, and TSK scores were higher than patients with LSS (P = 0.001). Pain, fear of falling, and kinesiophobia were moderately correlated with disability in the IVC-LSS group. No relationship was found between pain and dynamic balance. Also, the pain was not related to kinesiophobia. Conclusions: The findings indicated that IVC causes loss of balance and an increase in pain, disability, fear of falling, and kinesophobia in patients with LSS.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.432-440
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• 2003

Purpose: The purposes of this study were to examine 1) functional status at 2 months after hip fracture surgery 2) health care utilization after a fall episode and 3) fear of falling experienced during first 2 months after a fall episode. Method: With a convenient sample of 99 elderly from six university or general hospitals with hip fracture from a fall, data were collected at 2-3 days before discharge and at 2 months after hip fracture surgery. Result: 1) At 2 months after hip fracture from a fall, significant proportion (25.3%) of elderly was not able to walk indoors. 2) Average length of hospital stay was 27.6 days with a range of 8 to 86 days. About 51% subjects received physical therapy during hospital stay, and only 6.1% subjects received physical therapy following discharge from the hospital. 3) Significant proportion (72.7%) had fear of falling after the fall episode. About 51% reported that they restricted their activities because they had fear of falling. Conclusion: Fall is a dreaded event which result in loss of independence and restriction of activity. Development and application of fall prevention program is critical especially for those with risk factors of fall.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.10-19
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• 2016

Purpose: This study was to develop a fall prevention program and test the effects of the program on the muscle strength, postural balance and fear of falling for elderly. Methods: This study was conducted using a nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design. There were 21 participants in the experimental group and 22 in the control group. Data were collected from July to September 2015. Questionnaires were completed three times (at pretest and after 8 and 10 weeks). Data were analyzed using $x^2$ test, Fisher's exact test, t-test, and repeated measure ANOVA. Results: Lower extremity muscle strength and postural balance scores were significantly improved in the experimental group compared to the control group. However, fear of falling was not significantly different between the experimental and control groups. Conclusion: The study results indicate that fall prevention programs for the elderly can be useful to improve muscle strength and postural balance.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.21-28
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• 2022

Background: To investigate the association between regular physical exercise and falling experience for 2 years and fear of falling (FOF) in Korean middle-aged and elderly population. Methods: Data from the Korean Longitudinal Study on Aging was used and 3,871 participants who exercised regularly were included at 2006 and follow-up until 2018. An analysis was performed to investigate the association between exercise (exercise time per week and duration) and falls (experience over past 2 years and FOF) using the generalized estimating equation model. Results: Compared to those who exercised more than 5 hours a week (reference group), those who exercised less than 3 hours were more likely to experience falls and FOF (odds ratio [OR], 1.334; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.059-1.682; OR, 1.218; 95% CI, 1.119-1.326, respectively). Compared to the group who exercised for more than 5 years, those who exercised for less than 1 year were more likely to experience FOF (OR, 1.310; 95% CI, 1.162-1.478). Conclusion: This study showed that there was a negative relationship between physical exercise time and falling experience and FOF in Korean 45 years or more community-dwelling adults. Based on these results, physical activity can be expected to have a positive effect on fall prevention, which implies the need for policy and research on long-term physical activity programs.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.8
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• pp.267-272
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• 2016

Falling is one of the problems that threatens the health of elderly patients. This study was conducted once a week for 12 weeks, from 15th of April to 13th of June in 2016, and included 118 subjects above the age of 65 in 6 centers of J city. We evaluated the effectiveness of the fall prevention exercise program (FPEP) and analyzed its effects by making a comparison between before and after the exercise that pertains to activities of daily living, fear of falling, and quality of life. Moreover, this study confirms that there is a relationship between these three factors. The results of this study are as follows: There were statistically significant differences of activities of daily living (F=-4.75, p<..001), fear of falling (F=10.22, p<..001) and quality of life (F=-11.58, p<..001) between post-test improvements and pre-test conditions. In addition, this study confirms that there is a relationship between activities of daily living, fear of falling, and quality of life (r=.551, p<..001, r=-.477, p<..001, r=-.584, p<..001). Accordingly, we have identified that FPEP is very effective for improving activities of daily living, fear of falling, and quality of life for senior citizens.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.251-263
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• 2011

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the factors associated with fear of falling among the elderly dwelling in rural communities. Methods: From February 1, 2010 to March 31, 2010, a questionnaire-based survey was sent to 2,628 persons 65 years or older dwelling in 1 Myeon and 1 Eup of Gyeongsangnam-do. Among these participants, 735 (27.9%) had fallen more than once in 2009. For data analysis, descriptive statistics and hierarchical multiple regression were performed using SPSS version 12.0. Results: Factors influencing the fear of falling in the elderly according to falls experienced were number of outpatient visits, number of falls, gender, admission, purchasing of health function foods, and activities of daily living. Overall, the study showed significant differences in the score of fear of falling according to gender, age, education, marital status, living arrangement, main means of mobilization, drinking, income, number of falls, admission, number of outpatient visits, experience with outpatient oriental medicine, purchasing of health function foods, medical assistance devices, season, fall location, fall cause, shoe type, injury type, limitation of activity, and activities of daily living. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that programs should be developed specifically for elderly people who have experienced more than one fall because of increased fear due to multiple falls.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.282-293
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• 2012

Purpose: The study aimed to examine the effects of Tai Chi fall prevention program on risk factors for fall, fear of falling, and quality of life among elderly women living in the community. Methods: A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design with non-equivalent control group was used. Sixty participants were recruited from 4 senior citizen centers in a city. The 1-hour Tai Chi fall prevention program was provided three times a week for 6 months to the experimental group. Risk factors for fall including fracture risk and bone mineral density, fear of falling, and quality of life were measured at the baseline and at 6 months. Results: Participants were 75 years old in average. At the completion of 6 month program, the experimental group showed lower fracture risks, less fear of falling, and higher scores in several domains of quality of life than the control group, after controlling for the pretest scores, fall experience, and regular exercise habit. Conclusion: The Tai Chi fall prevention program was safely applied to elderly women with improvement in fracture risk, fear of falling, and several domains of quality of life. Future study is necessary to confirm the longer effect of the Tai Chi program for the prevention of fall episodes.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.631-636
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to test the effects of Tai Chi exercises on the grip power, pain and fear of falling in elderly persons. A quasi-experimental design was used. This study included 37 subjects who were living in C city. The subjects were divided into the experiment group (n=18) trained in the Tai Chi technique for 6 weeks and the control group (n=19). The experimental group practiced the 24 posture simplified form of Tai Chi for 6 weeks (5 times per day for 60 minutes each time). The effect of the treatment was measured by determining the grip power, pain and fear of falling before and after the 6 weeks of intervention. The experimental group showed a significant increase in grip power (P<0.001) and decrease in pain (P<0.001) compared to the control group. The fear of falling in the experimental group decreased significantly (P<0.002). Tai Chi exercises may be an effective intervention to prevent falling. The Tai Chi technique would therefore be a good method of improving the pain and body health index in elderly persons.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.10 no.10
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• pp.33-41
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• 2019

This study aimed to investigate the convergence relationship between kinesiophobia and fear of falling in patients with stroke. A total of 113 patients with stroke participated in this study. Participants underwent inpatient rehabilitation and completed surveys with three different questionnaires including the fall efficacy scale (FES), translated Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia 13 (TSK-13), and activity-specific balance confidence scale (ABC). TSK-13 and FES showed weak negative correlation (r=-0.226), and TSK-13 and ABC showed moderate negative correlation (r=-0.300). FES had a very strong positive relationship compared with ABC (r=0.838). Faller showed significantly low FES and ABC scores compared with non-faller (p<0.05). These results present that patients with stroke had mild kinesiophobia, and kinesiophobia is related to fear of falling. It is necessary to evaluate kinesiophobia in stroke rehabilitation.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.119-129
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• 2024

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a low-intensity combined exercise program on daily physical fitness parameters such as balance, flexibility, muscle strength, and fear of falling of elderly women in the community. METHODS: This study assigned 30 elderly women randomly into two groups: The control and experimental groups. The control group (n = 15) underwent routine gait. The experimental group (n = 15) underwent the low-intensity combined exercise. The exercise program in this study comprising combined exercise, including balance, flexibility, muscle strength training, and the exercise program using props was conducted twice a week for 8 weeks. RESULTS: The average age of the control and experimental groups was 77.27 years and 78.33 years, respectively. There were significant differences in static balance (t = -4.167, p < .001), dynamic balance (t = 2.463, p < .001), (t = -3.870, p < .001), (t = -2.262, p < .001), (t = -5.732, p < .001), (t = -6.573, p < .001), and fear of falling (t = -5.129, p < .001). CONCLUSION: The results show that low-intensity combined exercise is an effective intervention that improves physical health fear of falling in older women. The combined exercise program was found to be more effective in terms of physical function and fall-related psychological function compared to the control group that only walked.