SynthesisBMC geriatrics2024
The global prevalence of and risk factors for fear of falling among older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in BMC geriatrics, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06815809 (Floor-hugging Intervention), which is not on this map. Cited by 43 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Floor-hugging Intervention: Managing Fear of Falling Through Floor Exposure and Developing After-fall Contingency
Who cites it
43 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 68 citations in OpenAlex.
- Longitudinal associations of psychosocial factors and fear of falling in older adults: a systematic review.BMC geriatrics · 2026Pooled it
- Fear of falling risk after hip surgery in older adults: an updated sex-specific systematic review with GRADE and PAF assessment.BMC geriatrics · 2026Pooled it
- Interpretable and explainable artificial intelligence for wearable sensor-based fall risk assessment in older adults: a systematic review with considerations for prosthetics and orthotics.Frontiers in computational neuroscience · 2026Pooled it
- An umbrella review of physical-activity therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy in reducing fear of falling among community-dwelling older adults: insights on intervention intensity and duration.Frontiers in public health · 2024Pooled it
- Factors associated with anxiety and fear of falling in older adults: A rapid systematic review of reviews.PloS one · 2024Pooled it
- Reducing concerns about falling in older adults: evaluation of a multi-component intervention and the role of stress and inflammation markers - long-term effects of the FEARFALL randomized controlled trial.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2026Trial
- Assessing concerns about falling: a comparison of telephone-based and face-to-face FES-I interviews in older adults.BMC geriatrics · 2026Trial
- Trial
- Trial
- Walking Aids and Locomotion Training in the Emergency Department: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2025Trial
- Path model explaining the association between fear of falling and health-related quality of life in (pre-)frail older adults.BMC geriatrics · 2025Trial
- Determinants of implementing fall risk screening for older adults in primary care settings: protocol for a scoping review.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Low physical activity and risk of falls among older adults in a high-altitude district of Peru: a secondary analysis of the Aunqui-Andes study.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- Association Between Upper Limb Injury and Risk of Falls: A Nationwide Population-Based Cohort Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- The Moderating Effect of Physical Activity on the Association Between Cognitive Function and Fear of Falling in Low-Income Community-Dwelling Older Adults.Research in gerontological nursing · 2026Article
- Lower-extremity muscle quality asymmetry in older adult fallers and non-fallers: a phase angle analysis.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- Association of fear of falling and low physical activity with the quality of life of community-dwelling older adults.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- Fall risk and its determinants among home-dwelling older adults: A multivariate logistic regression analysis.Pakistan journal of medical sciences · 2026Article
- Nurse-led multicomponent educational intervention in primary care to reduce fear of falling in older adults: a cluster randomized trial.BMC nursing · 2026Article
- Self-awareness of falls and its influencing factors in older patients with cardiometabolic multimorbidity: a latent profile analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAs a common psychological problem among older adults, fear of falling was found to have a wide range prevalence in different studies. However, the global prevalence of it was unknown and a lack of the large sample confirmed its risk factors.
objectivesTo report the global prevalence of fear of falling and to explore its risk factors among older adults for further developing precise interventions to systematically manage FOF.
designA systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted by PRISMA guidelines.
methodsSearches were conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library and the manual search in August 20, 2022, updated to September 2, 2023. Observational studies published in English were included and two researchers independently screened and extracted the data. Fixed or random effects mode was used to estimate the pooled prevalence of and risk factors for fear of falling. Heterogeneity resources were analyzed by subgroup and sensitivity analysis. Publication bias was assessed through funnel plots, Egger's test and Begg's test.
resultsA total of the 153 studies with 200,033 participants from 38 countries worldwide were identified. The global prevalence of fear of falling was 49.60%, ranging from 6.96-90.34%. Subgroup analysis found the estimates pooled prevalence of it was higher in developing countries (53.40%) than in developed countries (46.7%), and higher in patients (52.20%) than in community residents (48.40%). In addition, twenty-eight risk factors were found a significant associations with fear of falling, mainly including demographic characteristics, physical function, chronic diseases and mental problems.
conclusionThe global prevalence of FOF was high, especially in developing countries and in patients. Demographic characteristics, Physical function, chronic diseases and mental problems were a significant association with FOF. Policy-makers, health care providers and government officials should comprehensively evaluate these risk factors and formulate precise intervention measures to reduce FOF.
trial registrationThe study was registered in the International Database of Prospectively Registered Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO): CRD42022358031.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.