While falls in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) are a main health concern, the percentage of those who restrict their activity because of concerns about falling (CAF) is unknown. A study in the March 2012 issue of Physical Therapy estimates the percentage of people who have MS and report falling, CAF, and activity restrictions related to CAF; examines associations of these factors with fall status; and explores associations of fall status with mobility functions and number of accumulated impairments.
Patricia Noritake Matsuda, PT, PhD, DPT, from the division of physical therapy in the department of rehabilitation medicine at the University of Washington, Seattle, led the cross-sectional survey. A total of 575 community-dwelling people with MS provided information, including sociodemographics, falls, CAF, activity restrictions related to CAF, mobility function, and accumulated impairments. The researchers used chi-square statistics to explore associations among these factors.
According to the results, of the participants, 62% reported CAF and about 67% reported activity restrictions related to CAF. For those who did not experience falls, 25.9% reported CAF and 27.7% reported activity restrictions related to CAF. Participants who reported moderate mobility restrictions had the highest percentage of falls, while participants who had severely limited self-mobility reported the lowest percentage. Furthermore, those who reported the highest percentage of two or more falls were those with 10 impairments.
The researchers conclude that both CAF and activity restrictions related to CAF were common in people with MS. Those who experienced falls and those who did not reported these restrictions, and the association of fall status with mobility function did not appear to be linear. While the researchers found that fall risk increased with declining mobility function, at a certain threshold, further declines in mobility function were associated with fewer falls, possibly because of reduced fall risk exposure.
Source: Physical Therapy
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