Qom University of Medical Sciences Journal

Background and Objectives: Activities of daily living are the most fundamental components of life, and reflect an important aspect of functional independence in older adults, which declins with increasing age. This research was performed with the purpose of predicting activities of daily living inthe older adults in Qom City based on fall-related psychological factors.

Methods: In this descriptive correlational study, 340 older adults were selected by convenience sampling from urban areas of Qom City. Data collection was carried out using demographic characteristics questionnaire, Activities of Daily Living Scale of Khajavi&Parsa, Yardley et al.’s Fall Efficacy Scale-International, Activities-specific Balance Confidence of Myers et al, and modified Gait Efficacy Scale of Newell et al. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, and regression analysis. The significance level was considered to be p≤0.05.

Results: In this study, the mean age of participants was 70.80 years. There were a significant relationship between activities of daily living and fall-related psychological factors in the older adults in Qom City (p≤0.05). Activities of daily living were significantly predicted by variables, including gait efficacy, fear of falling, and balance confidence. These predictor variables explained 93% of variability in activities of daily living (r2=0.93, f=681.307, p≤0.000).

Conclusion: According to the results of this study, fall-related psychological factors by affecting older adults’ self-perceptions can decrease self-efficacy in performing activities of daily living. Also, these factors can be considered in interventions targeting improvement in activities of daily living. Therefore, future studies are necessary to investigate older adults’ functional performance based on the fall-related psychological factors.