Predictors of concern about falling among adults who use wheelchairs and/or motorized mobility scooters full-time: a...

Concern about falling (CaF) can emerge after experiencing a fall or recognizing personal fall risk. High CaF may lead to activity curtailment, greater fall risk, and reduced quality of life and participation in full-time wheelchair/scooter (WC/S) users. Identifying predictors of CaF can help clinicians address CaF in rehabilitation interventions.

To examine predictors of CaF among individuals living with various health conditions who use WC/S full-time.

This cross-sectional online survey included adults who used WC/S full-time for at least one year and had experienced at least one fall in the prior three years. Path analysis identified predictors of CaF, measured by the Fall Concerns Scale for people who use WC/S (FCS-WC/S).

137 people who use WC/S full-time (63 % male, 37 % female) participated. Being younger (p < .05), being male (p <.05), having experienced at least one fall-related injury in the past year (p < .01), having a higher impact of chronic dizziness on physical, emotional, and functional well-being (p < .001), inability to get up from the ground independently (p < .01), and lower burden of depressive symptoms (p < .05) were predictors of increased levels of CaF.

This study's findings suggest that the influences of CaF among people who use WC/S are multifactorial. Awareness of these predictors can help researchers and clinicians develop screenings to better identify people who use WC/S with high levels of CaF and develop treatment plans to effectively manage CaF.