The investigation of the daily life activities and falling effectiveness of the feedback geriatric individuals

ABSTRACT THE INVESTIGATION OF THE DAILY LIFE ACTIVITIES AND FALLING EFFECTIVENESS OF THE FEEDBACK GERIATRIC INDIVIDUALS Gamze GÖNÜLLÜ BULU Thesis Advisor: Prof. Dr. Özlem ALTINDAĞ Master Thesis, Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Department June 2018, 71 pages In the elderly, muscle strength, neuromuscular coordination, postural stability, structural characteristics of the bone adversely affect the elderly, such as reducing the functional ability to walk and balance causes. Balance and deterioration of the walk increase the risk of falling in elderly individuals. For this reason, in this study, the effect of balance on daily living activities and fear of falling was examined in geriatric individuals who can walk. Between January and August 2017, T.C. Ministry of Family and Social Policies Hatay Nursing Home Elderly Care and Rehabilitation Center and Hatay were selected by taking 100 individuals who volunteered to participate in the study and met the criteria. Of the 100 volunteers who participated in the study, 39% were female, 61% were male, and the average age of the participants was 72.00 ± 7.41 years. 48% of the individuals in our study had chronic illnesses. Hypertension in 26% of individuals, diabetes in 17% and COPD in 5% were found to be the most common diseases. 59 of these individuals were on medication and 41 were not on medication. According to the International Falling Activity Scale (FES-I), the average fear of falling was 28.09 ± 12.7. Tinetti Equilibrium and Walking Test Total Walking Points were found to be 6.67 ± 2.81 on average and it was seen that the cases in the study were at risk of serious falls. Thus, it was determined that there was a significant difference between individuals' age and balance scores, fear of falling and activities of daily living. Also, there was a significant difference between the gender status of the individuals and the balance scores and daily life activities, but there was no significant difference between the sexes and the fear of falling. Besides, there was a meaningful difference between drug use and daily life activities, but there was no significant difference between fear of falling and balance scores. According to the results obtained from the walking and equilibrium test applied to individuals, it was seen that the cases were threatened with a serious risk of falling. There was a significant positive correlation between Tinetti Balance and Walking Scores and NEADLDS in the positive direction. In our study, there was a significant correlation between the Tinetti Balance and Walking Test Score and the Inter-national Dropout Scale scores in the negative direction with a high correlation. As a result, fear of falling is an important health problem in the elderly who can walk. There are many factors that are related to fear of falling. Knowing the risk factors for fear of falling can be useful to reduce the fear of falling and increase the quality of life. Keywords: Geriatrics, Walking, Balance, Life Activation, Fear of Fall