Table 3.
Activity avoidance (mSAFFE items) in relation to a history falls/near falls, and fear of falling (N = 251)
| Falls past 6 months | Near fallsa (but no falls) past 6 months | Fear of fallingb | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Item | No | Single | Rk | Recurrent | Rk | No | Yes | Rk | No | Yes | Rk | |
| no. | Activityc (sometimes + always avoided) | n = 141 | n = 38 | n = 72 | n = 88 | n = 51 | n = 129 | n = 121 | ||||
| 1 | Go to the shops, n (%) | 36 (26) | 15 (40) | 10 | 44 (61) | 5 | 14 (17) | 22 (43) | 11 | 18 (14) | 77 (65) | 6 |
| 2 | Clean your house, n (%) | 42 (31) | 15 (40) | 9 | 44 (61) | 6 | 17 (20) | 25 (49) | 8 | 28 (22) | 73 (62) | 11 |
| 3 | Prepare simple meals, n (%) | 19 (14) | 9 (24) | 14 | 31 (44) | 14 | 7 (8) | 12 (24) | 15 | 12 (9) | 47 (40) | 14 |
| 4 | Go to the doctor or dentist, n (%) | 17 (12) | 5 (13) | 17 | 16 (23) | 17 | 6 (7) | 11 (22) | 16 | 7 (5) | 31 (27) | 17 |
| 5 | Take a bath, n (%) | 39 (29) | 13 (34) | 12 | 34 (48) | 12 | 16 (19) | 23 (46) | 10 | 23 (18) | 63 (54) | 12 |
| 6 | Take a shower, n (%) | 27 (20) | 5 (13) | 16 | 21 (29) | 16 | 10 (12) | 17 (33) | 14 | 10 (8) | 43 (36) | 15 |
| 7 | Go for a walk, n (%) | 44 (32) | 16 (42) | 7 | 41 (57) | 9 | 17 (20) | 27 (53) | 6 | 27 (21) | 74 (62) | 9 |
| 8 | Go out when it is slippery, n (%) | 96 (70) | 27 (71) | 1 | 61 (86) | 1 | 51 (59) | 45 (88) | 1 | 72 (56) | 112 (95) | 1 |
| 9 | Visit a friend or relative, n (%) | 32 (23) | 12 (32) | 13 | 32 (44) | 13 | 13 (15) | 19 (38) | 13 | 17 (13) | 59 (50) | 13 |
| 10 | Go to a place with crowds, n (%) | 52 (38) | 20 (52) | 2 | 43 (60) | 7 | 21 (24) | 31 (61) | 2 | 33 (26) | 82 (69) | 4 |
| 11 | Go up and down stairs, n (%) | 50 (36) | 15 (39) | 11 | 38 (53) | 10 | 25 (29) | 25 (49) | 7 | 26 (20) | 77 (65) | 7 |
| 12 | Walk around indoors, n (%) | 17 (12) | 9 (24) | 15 | 22 (31) | 15 | 8 (9) | 9 (18) | 17 | 12 (9) | 36 (31) | 16 |
| 13 | Walk a kilometer, n (%) | 56 (41) | 19 (50) | 4 | 45 (63) | 4 | 26 (30) | 30 (59) | 3 | 35 (27) | 85 (72) | 3 |
| 14 | Bend down to get something, n (%) | 48 (35) | 16 (42) | 8 | 43 (60) | 8 | 24 (28) | 24 (47) | 9 | 31 (24) | 76 (64) | 8 |
| 15 | Travel by public transport, n (%) | 37 (27) | 20 (52) | 3 | 46 (64) | 3 | 16 (18) | 21 (41) | 12 | 24 (19) | 79 (66) | 5 |
| 16 | Go out to a social event, n (%) | 45 (33) | 19 (50) | 5 | 35 (49) | 11 | 18 (21) | 27 (53) | 5 | 25 (19) | 74 (62) | 10 |
| 17 | Reach for something above your head, n (%) | 56 (41) | 17 (45) | 6 | 51 (71) | 2 | 27 (31) | 29 (57) | 4 | 35 (27) | 89 (75) | 2 |
mSAFFE modified Survey of Activities and Fear of Falling in the Elderly, each item (i.e. activity) has three response categories: never, sometimes or always avoid; the response categories sometimes and always are merged; Rk = Ranking order (1–17; 1 denotes the most avoided activity). Top five avoided activities are marked in bold
a n = 2 missing values, b n = 1 missing and c n = 3–6 missing (For further details regarding missing data see footnote in Table 2