Frequency of fear of fall among diabetic patients in Hayatabad Medical Complex Peshawar

Abstract

Introduction: A fall may be defined as a loss of balance, resulting in coming to rest on the ground or on another object below knee level. Fear of all or Basophobia is a condition of concern towards falls and natural fear of unable to stand or walk. Since the identification of the post-fall syndrome, fear of fall is considered the major health issue among elderly population. Therefore, this study was conducted to measure the level of fear of fall and factors which might contribute to it.

Material & Methods: It was a cross sectional study conducted to measure the level of fear of fall among the diabetic patients of Hayatabad Medical Complex Peshawar. According to the inclusion criteria, participants who had age more than 40 years and diabetic history of more than 2 years were included in the study. We measured the fear of fall with age, gender and duration of diabetes mellitus. Convenient sampling technique was used for the recruitment of the participants. Data was collected by self-repored questionnaires and was analyzed by SPSS 20.0 version.

Results: A total of 306 participants, 164 (53.59%) males and 142 (46.40%) female with a mean age 56.02 ± 9.68 years (mean ± sd) were recruited. The level of fear of all was high in diabetic patients in which 222 (72.5%) participants showed high, 48 (15.7%) moderate and 36 (11.8%) low concerns.

Conclusion: Fear of fall is a common problem in both male and female population having diabetes mellitus. It is one of the major concerns among patients with diabetes. It has a positive relation with age, duration of DM, and insulin intake.