Evaluation of Fear of Falling in Patients with Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma and the Importance of Inferior Visual Field Damage

PURPOSE: To evaluate fear of falling using the Fall Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I) in glaucoma patients and investigate its association with glaucomatous visual field loss. METHODS: This study included 273 patients (160 men and 113 women, average age 64.2 years) with primary open-angle glaucoma. Participants were requested to answer the FES-I questionnaire, translated into Japanese, in a face-to-face interview. The relationship between total FES-I score and the following variables was analyzed using multivariable linear regression: age, sex, better and worse best corrected visual acuity, total deviation (TD) in four visual field areas, body mass index (BMI), minutes walked per day, history of diabetes mellitus, history of systemic hypertension, number of previous falls. RESULTS: Univariate analysis suggested that total FES-I score increased with age and in woman, whereas other variables were not significantly associated with total FES-I score. However, age (coefficient, 0.23; standard error [SE], 0.04; P < 0.001), sex (coefficient, 1.79 for women; SE, 0.84; P = 0.034), mean TD in the inferior central area (coefficient, 0.92; SE, 0.22; P <0.001), and mean TD in the inferior peripheral area (coefficient, –0.86; SE, 0.21; P < 0.001) were included in the optimal model for total FES-I score. CONCLUSIONS: Inferior peripheral visual field damage and preserved inferior central visual field sensitivity were associated with increased fear of falling assessed with FES-I in glaucoma.