Fear of falling can prevent wheelchair, scooter users from being active

Most people who use wheelchairs or motorized scooters are worried about falling, and that fear can lead them to use their wheelchair or scooter less frequently, according to new research from the University of Illinois Chicago and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

This can produce a vicious cycle where a fear of falling leads to decreased physical activity, which puts people at greater risk of falling, the researchers said.

The study uses survey data from 156 participants with a variety of health conditions that led them to use a wheelchair or motorized scooter for mobility at least 75% of the time. Almost all of them - 96% - said they had fallen at least once in the previous year. Of those, 95% reported a fear of falling, and 74% said they had injured themselves during a fall.

Those who said they worried about falling also reported fewer hours a week of using their wheelchair or scooter. The researchers said this could be because they were trying to avoid a fall by being less active. Elizabeth Peterson, a clinical professor of occupational therapy at UIC, said that falls among wheelchair and scooter users can be caused by "physical, behavioral, environmental or psychological" factors. This can include passing over rough terrain, transferring from one surface to another or reaching for something.

The researchers say the findings show the need for health care providers to gauge people's fall risk and offer safety training to decrease the likelihood of falls. The research team is now testing a program they designed for occupational and physical therapists to deliver that includes exercises, help practicing transferring from a wheelchair or scooter and creating a plan to manage falls if they happen.

The research is published in Disability and Rehabilitation. The coauthors are professor Laura Rice and graduate student Sahel Moein, both at UIUC.

This article was adapted from a news releaseby Diana Yates at UIUC.