Fear of falling, also known as basophobia, is a significant but often underappreciated issue among elderly women. This study seeks to identify age-related features of postural control components (PCCs) among women between the ages of 63 and 74 with a fear of falling (FoF). We examined a total of 146 women between the ages of 63 and 74 who had postural instability and FoF (the latter confirmed by a psychologist)....
✦ The floor
Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
No actionable change — findings are descriptive and population-specific; fall-risk screening for elderly women with fear of falling already exists, but this adds detail on postural control components worth monitoring in future protocols.
Fear of falling is a major independent predictor of falls in the elderly; characterizing its postural control signatures may refine vestibular and balance assessment in older patients.
- 01Identifies age-related differences in postural control components in elderly women with fear of falling (basophobia).
- 02Published in Advances in Gerontology, a peer-reviewed gerontology journal.
- 03Fear of falling independently contributes to altered balance strategies beyond physical decline alone.
- 04Findings may support tailored vestibular/balance rehabilitation approaches for this demographic.
- 05Study population limited to elderly women, limiting generalizability to men or younger adults.
Elderly women with fear of falling exhibit distinct age-related postural control features compared to those without.
studypartially supported- PMID
- 42378477
- DOI
- 10.34922/AE.2026.39.2.012.
- Journal
- Advances in Gerontology
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 4
- Population
- Elderly women with fear of falling (basophobia)
- Intervention
- Postural control assessment across age subgroups
Primary outcomes
Age-related postural control component features in elderly women with fear of falling