The Relationship Between Fear of Falling and Social Isolation and Loneliness in Diabetic Elderly Who Referred to Health Centers in Faridonkanar City in 2023

Fear of falling is considered an important factor in reducing the daily life activities of the elderly with diabetes. It seems that the fear of falling can play a decisive role in creating a sense of loneliness and social isolation in the elderly with diabetes by creating functional limitations and reducing the social activities of the elderly. Therefore, the direct relationship between fear of falling and social isolation and loneliness in diabetic elderly has not been investigated. The present study was conducted to determine the relationship between fear of falling social isolation and feelings of loneliness in elderly diabetics who were referred to health centers in Faridunknar City in 2023.

The current study was a descriptive-analytical study that was conducted cross-sectionally on elderly people with type 2 diabetes referring to health centers in Faridonkanar City in 2023. In this study, 398 elderly people with diabetes participated, who were selected by simple random method. The research tools included the demographic information form, the international fall efficiency scale in the elderly, the emotional and social loneliness scale of adults, and the social isolation questionnaire of the Yazdi school. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics and analytical statistics such as one-way analysis of variance, independent t-test, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and multiple linear regression in SPSS21 software.

The mean age of the participants was 67.6±28.6 years, with more than half of them being female (66.8%). The mean scores and standard deviations of fear of falling, social isolation, and loneliness in the elderly were 51.53±11.60, 48.66±6.30, and 64.53±2.96, respectively. 94.7% of the elderly participants had severe concerns about falling. There was a significant positive relationship between the fear of falling and feelings of loneliness (r=0.389, P=0.001) and social isolation (r=0.156, P=0.002). The results of the multivariable model also showed that for each unit increase in fear of falling score, there was a 0.05 increase in social isolation score in elderly diabetic patients (P≥0.05).

The results of the present study showed that there is a significant relationship between the fear of falling and social isolation and loneliness. The more seniors are afraid of falling, the more they feel alone and socially isolated. Given that improving health in the elderly requires improving healthy lifestyles and controlling and managing psychological factors, including feelings of loneliness and social isolation. Knowing the factors related to them is considered one of the important pillars of interventions in target groups in the key concept of "healthy and successful aging ". Effective planning in this area requires full knowledge and awareness of the fear of falling in the elderly and eliminating the factors that can be related to it. For this reason, it is necessary to adopt appropriate intervention strategies to reduce the fear of falling and increase the sense of security in diabetic elderly to improve their participation and social presence.