TY - JOUR PY - 2019// TI - A regression tree for identifying risk factors for fear of falling: the International Mobility in Aging Study (IMIAS) JO - Journals of gerontology. Series A: Biological sciences and medical sciences A1 - Curcio, Carmen-Lucia A1 - Wu, Yan Yan A1 - Vafaei, Afshin A1 - Barbosa, Juliana Fernandez de Souza A1 - Guerra, Ricardo A1 - Guralnik, Jack A1 - Gómez, Fernando SP - ePub EP - ePub VL - ePub IS - ePub N2 - BACKGROUND: We determine the best combination of factors for predicting the risk of developing fear of falling (FOF) in older people via Classification Regression Tree (CaRT) analysis.

METHODS: Community-dwelling older adults living in Canada, Albania, Brazil, and Colombia were from International Mobility in Aging Study (IMIAS). In 2014, 1,725 participants (aged 65-74) were assessed. With a retention rate of 81%, in 2016, 1,409 individuals were reassessed. Risk factors for FOF were entered into the CaRT: age, sex, education, self-rated health, comorbidity, medication, visual impairment, frailty, cognitive deficit, depression, fall history, Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), walking aid use, and mobility disability measured by the Nagi questionnaire.

RESULTS: The classification tree included 12 end groups representing differential risks of FOF with a minimum of two and a maximum of five predictors. The first split in the tree involved impaired physical function (SPPB scores). Respondents with less than 8 in SPPB score and mobility disability had 82% risk of developing FOF at the end of 2-year follow-up. Between 23.2% and 82.3% of the risk of developing FOF in 2 years of follow-up were explained by only five variables: age, sex, self-rated health, functional impairment measured by SPPB, and mobility disability. In those with no functional impairment or mobility disability, levels of education, sex, and self-rated health were important predictors of FOF in the future.

CONCLUSION: This classification tree included different groups based on specific combinations of a maximum of five easily measurable predictors with emphasis on impaired physical functioning risk factors for developing FOF.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 1079-5006 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glz002 ID - ref1 ER -