The correlation between the standing stability and fear of falling in patients with stroke

Abstract

Background: Preventing falls is an important goal of rehabilitation program in patients with stroke. Balance disturbance is a specific risk factor for falling in these patients. The correlation between the stability parameters based on force plate data and fear of falling was not assessed in any of previous study. So, this study aimed to evaluate the standing stability of patients with stroke and its correlation with fear of falling. Methods: Ten patients with stroke and 10 normal subjects matched based on the age, height, weight and sex were recruited for this study. Kistler force plate and the Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I) questionnaire were employed to evaluate the stability and fear of falling, respectively. The difference of stability parameters between the two groups was checked using independent samples t-test; and the correlation between the stability and fear of falling in patients with stroke was assessed using Pearson correlation coefficient. Findings: Based on the variables of the center of pressure, the stability of patients with stroke was significantly less than that of normal subjects (P < 0.05). There was no significant correlation between the stability parameters and fear of falling in patients with stroke (P > 0.05). Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, decreased stability is not the main risk factor for falling and also fear of falling in patients with chronic stroke. So, simultaneous control of other predisposing risk factors for fear of falling is helpful to understand their relevance in falling and also to find the appropriate rehabilitative program to reduce the risk of falling in patients with stroke. © 2016, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences(IUMS). All rights reserved.