Assessing relation between the balance disorder and fear of falling in older people who residents of governmental geriatric – care homes in iraq

In the study, we sought to evaluate the relationship between fear of falling and balance disorder among elderly people living in a nursing home in Iraq. The study design was descriptive-sectional. 139 elderly people were selected from among those in nursing homes; the sample size was 200 elderly people. According to the research, there was a strong negative relationship between fear of falling (according to the FES-I scale) and balance (according to the BBS scale). It was also found that the percentage of male participants is the largest at 64%, but females are more afraid than males, which is the most disturbing part of the balance. The average age of the elderly participants in the study was 71.21. It was found in the study that there is a statistically significant relationship between age, history of falls, history of chronic diseases, use of walking aids, sex, and the fear of falling. There is no relationship between educational level, income level, housing, or the measure of fear of falling. We also found that there is a statistically significant relationship between the balance scale, age, educational level, income level, history of falls, history of chronic diseases, and the use of walking aids. There is no relationship between the balance scale, gender, and housing. The percentage of the elderly who suffer from a severe fear of falling is 45.3%. The percentage of the elderly who suffer from a balance disorder is 18.7%. The first steps to helping today's rapidly aging population should be the formulation of national health and social policies that address the root causes of this problem and the implementation of preventive healthcare services.