Ass. Prof. Department of Public Health Nursing, Izmir Katip Celebi University Faculty of Health Sciences, Cigli-Izmir, Turkey

Docent. Department of Public Health, Faculty of Nursing, Ege University, Bornova-Izmir, Turkey

Ass. Prof. Department of Nursing Education, Faculty of Nursing, Ege University, Bornova-Izmir, Turkey
Elderly ,Falls ,Activities ,Daily living ,

It was planned with the objective of determining the effect of the risk factors of falling on daily living activities in elderly persons. A cross-sectional study was conducted at three nursing homes and covered a sampling of 227 elderly persons in Izmir, Turkey. Data was gathered with the Sociodemographic Questionnaire Form, Tinetti’s Falls Efficacy Scale (FES), Modified Barthel Index (MBI) and Timed-up and Go test (TUG). Among the participants, the mean age was 75.99+7.60, 55.9% were male, 63.4% were divorced or widowed, 61.2% were primary school or less and junior high school level educated. The FES score point average of the elderly was 67.50±27.84 and the MBI point average was 88.84±14.58. The average periods of the elderly walking back and forth a distance of 3 meters was 19.04±8.30 sec. It can be stated that the balance and mobility skills were at a medium level in the elderly due to the fact that their periods of walking were long and consequently, they experienced a risk of falling. The conclusion was reached that because the elderly had fallen previously and was afraid of falling; they realized their daily living activities in a more careful manner.

6 , 7 , 2016