[Fear of falling among community-living older adults].

Introduction: Due to fear of falling, older people may restrict their activities, causing muscle weakness and impaired balance and, consequently, admission to an institute. Accordingly, fear of falling is a common and serious health problem among older individuals. The prevalence of the fear of falling and its associated factors as well as possible preventive and therapeutic methods have been widely investigated in geriatrics.

Gait parameters in physically active and inactive elderly as well as young community-living people.

Background: This study aimed to reveal the effects of a complex exercise program on gait among older people through analyzing the gait parameters in three groups: 1) older individuals participating in complex exercise program called 60+; 2) older individuals who were physically inactive; and 3) young individuals.

Methods: Fifty-seven community-living individuals were enrolled in this study. Variability of step length, step time, step width, and double support ratio as well as automaticity were measured.

Cross-cultural validation of the Falls Efficacy Scale-International to assess concerns about falls among Hungarian community-living older people.

Purpose: The Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I) is a reliable and valid tool for assessing concerns about falling. Our aims were to translate, culturally adapt, and evaluate the main psychometric characteristics (internal consistency, reproducibility, and convergent construct validity) of the Hungarian version of the FES-I on a sample of community-living older adults.

Methods: After translating and culturally adapting the original scale, 165 community-living older adults (aged 60 years or over) participated in the measurements and filled in the questionnaire.