Syncope, Fear of Falling and Quality of Life Among Older Adults: Findings From the Irish Longitudinal Study on Aging (TILDA)
Syncope, Fear of Falling and Quality of Life Among Older Adults: Findings From the Irish Longitudinal Study on Aging (TILDA)
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DOI:
10.3389/fcvm.2020.00007
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发表时间:
2020-02-07
影响因子:
3.6
通讯作者:
Kenny, Rose Anne
中科院分区:
文献类型:
--
作者:
McCarthy, Kevin;Ward, Mark;Kenny, Rose Anne
Objective: Syncope is a prevalent condition that has a marked impact on quality of life. We examined the association between syncope and quality of life (QoL) and whether this association was explained by fear of falling (FoF).Methods: We examined data from Wave 3 of The Irish Longitudinal Study on Aging (TILDA), of adults aged >= 50 years (n = 4,946) who were asked to report syncope and who completed the CASP-12 QoL instrument. Analyses were stratified by age and gender.Results: Over 20% of participants reported having a previous syncopal episode, while 8% reported a faint, blackout or unexplained fall in the last year. QoL scores decreased as the burden of syncope increased: linear regression models adjusted for covariates showed that those having had two or more syncopal episodes in the last year reported a significantly lower CASP-12 score compared to those with none (p = 0.011). FoF partially mediated the association between syncope and QoL, particularly among younger participants.Conclusions: Syncope is a common condition among older adults that has a deleterious effect on QoL, with >= 2 recent syncopal episodes having a particularly adverse impact on QoL. FoF is a potential pathway which may both explain this association and allow therapeutic interventions by health practitioners.