Falls and psychosocial factors among community-dwelling elderly persons: a review and integration of findings from Israel.

Falls are the most common of all accident events among persons aged 65 and over who dwell in the community. The impact of falls on the well-being of the elderly is generally reported solely in terms of the resulting injury or mortality. However, this fails to reflect adequately the effect of falls on the psychological well-being of elderly persons and their ability to maintain independent function. This paper reviews the current associations found in the literature with respect to psychosocial factors and falls and integrates these findings with current research from Israel which shows that level of social contact with family and friends in negatively associated with fall incidence. Psychosocial factors are divided into antecedents of falls (risk factors), consequences of falls (outcomes), and factors that have been shown to be both antecedents and consequences of falls. The factors most consistently associated with falls are living alone, depression, fear of falls, and poor subjective health rating. These findings are discussed in light of stressful events and health.