The Effect of Sensory Stimulation on Quality of Life of the Elderly and Their fall-efficacy for Coping with the Fear of Falling: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Abstract

Abstract: Background: Aging causes major changes that affect the performance of all senses, and as a result, a critical change in the quality of life is expected. Falling and the fear of falling is one of the major health risks that affect the quality of life among elderly, threatening their independent living. Due to the cultural considerations of Iran and the precious dignity of the elderly, and the lack of proper studies to compare the mentioned interventions, this study was conducted to determine the effect of sensory stimulation on coping with the fear of falling, and quality life in the older population to improve the quality of life in the elderly and reduce the problems associated with aging, including the fall of the elderly.

Materials and Methods: This was a quasi-experimental, before and after, single-blind study to assess the effect of sensory stimulation on coping with the fear of falling, and quality life in the older population using the Older People’s Quality of Life Questionnaire and Falls Efficacy Scale-International tools into four intervention groups (music, photo album, aromatherapy, and hand massage) and one control group. Descriptive data were reported as mean (standard deviation) and frequency (%). An analysis of covariance was used to compare the different dimensions of QoL among the studied groups, taking into account the pre-intervention scores as a covariate. Data analysis was performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software program, version 16.0 (SPSS, Chicago, Illinois) and a value of p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Inclusion criteria of being over 60, awareness of time and place, no hearing, olfactory, and visual impairment, no orthopedic, rheumatologic and neurological disorders leading to pain. The exclusion criterion was the absence for more than three times during the study and hospitalization and allergy to almond oil and lavender.

Results: This study was performed on 80 elderly.The mean (SD) age of participants in this study was 67.84 (4.90) years. Female were 53.8% and male were 46.3%. 42.5% of the subjects had an academic education. 38.8% had a low economic status, and 53.8% had an equal income and expense. Comparison of changes in the QoL scores and fall efficacy in coping with fall before and after the intervention showed no significant differences in the changes of the components and the total score (p > 0.05).

Conclusions: As this study showed that multi stimuli interventions have no effect in the QoL and fall-efficacy