Fear of falling and nutritional risk in older adults treated virtually in a hospital in Peru

Introduction. Falls affect approximately 25% of individuals aged 65 to 70 years of age worldwide, constituting a global public health problem. The prevalence of fear of falling ranges from 41.5% to 49.7%. This study aimed to determine the association between nutritional risk and fear of falling in older adults who received virtual care at a hospital in Peru. Methodology. This was a quantitative, observational, analytical, cross-sectional study. Validated instruments were applied, and the data were analyzed using STATA v17.0. Frequencies and percentages were calculated; mean and standard deviation were used for qualitative and quantitative variables, respectively. Poisson regression with robust variance was used to assess associations. Results. A prevalence of 42.11% for fear of falling (n=56) and 50.38% for nutritional risk (n=67) was found. Bivariate analysis showed a significant association between fear of falling and nutritional risk (p=0.031), sex (p=0.017), previous falls (p=0.014), pain (p=0.007), risk of sarcopenia (p=0.003), cognitive impairment (p=0.05), dependence in basic activities (p=0.006), and polypharmacy (p=0.003). Malnutrition increased the likelihood of experiencing fear of falling 1.56-fold. Discussion. The results differed from previous studies at both global and regional levels, especially regarding the association between nutritional risk and fear of falling. Conclusions. It was determined that malnutrition is associated with fear of falling in older adults.