Fear of Falling and Balance Confidence in Older Adults with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: a Scoping Review

Publication date: Available online 6 March 2018 Source:Canadian Journal of Diabetes Author(s): Patricia Hewston, Nandini Deshpande Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) is highly prevalent in older adults (?65 years of age) and increases fall-risk. Fear of falling and low balance confidence are reported in both fallers and non-fallers, and can potentially be more debilitating than a fall itself. Therefore, the objective of this scoping review was to examine and map the current research evidence of fear of falling and balance confidence in older adults with DM. The search strategy involved a primary search of CINAHL, EMBASE, PubMed, and secondary search of reference lists and citation tracking. The search included MeSH terms and key terms of: ‘diabet*’ AND ‘fear’ OR ‘falls AND self-efficacy’ OR ‘balance confidence’. Inclusion criteria were: (1) population: older adults (?65 years of age) with DM and (2) outcome measure: fear of falling or balance confidence. Twenty-one studies were included (fear of falling [n=14]; balance confidence [n=7]) and categorized into four themes: prevalence, severity, determinants and interventions. Determinants were further categorized into physical, psychosocial and health-related domains. Fear of falling and low balance confidence were highly prevalent and more severe in older adults with DM. Determinants of fear of falling and balance confidence were beyond the physical domain and presence of diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Targeted ...

Source: Canadian Journal of Diabetes - March 7, 2018 Category: Endocrinology Source Type: research