Classification and influencing factors of fear of falling in elderly stroke patients: A latent profile analysis

OBJECTIVE: To explore the potential categories of fear of falling in elderly stroke patients and analyze the differences in characteristics and influencing factors among patients in different categories. METHODS: AA total of 386 elderly stroke patients hospitalized in the Department of Neurology of a tertiary grade A general hospital in Jilin Province from March 2024 to June 2024 were selected as research subjects using the convenience sampling method. A general information questionnaire, Modified Falls Efficacy Scale (MFES), Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire (SCSQ), and Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS) were used for the survey. Mplus 8.3 software was applied to conduct latent profile analysis (LPA) on fear of falling in elderly stroke patients to identify potential categories, and multivariate logistic regression was used to further explore the influencing factors of each category. RESULTS: There were 3 potential categories of fear of falling in elderly stroke patients: the high fear of falling group (21.8%), moderate fear of falling group (38.3%), and low fear of falling group (39.9%). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that gender, age, type of stroke diagnosis, visual status, hearing status, limb strength, coping style, and social support were the influencing factors for the potential categories of fear of falling in elderly stroke patients. CONCLUSION: Fear of falling in elderly stroke patients has obvious categorical characteristics. Medical staff should implement targeted interventions based on the characteristics and influencing factors of different potential categories to reduce patients' fear of falling.