Table 1 Clinical, functional and gait variables between the groups with and without a fear of falling

Clinical Data

 Age (years)

72.6 ± 6.1

71.8 ± 4.7

.758^a

 Body mass index (kg/m²)

29.1 ± 4.6

29.4 ± 4.2

.801^b

 Waist-to-hip ratio

1.0 ± 0.1

1.0 ± 0.1

.825^a

 Number of comorbidities

4.2 ± 1.8

3.6 ± 1.5

.069^a

 Number of medications

4.7 ± 2.0

4.5 ± 2.1

.399^a

 MLTAQ (kcal/week)

744.7 ± 905.9

1173.0 ± 1274.9

.051^a

 Fall history

.275^c

  Fallers, %

37.0

26.5

  Non-fallers, %

63.0

73.5

 Frailty level

.016^c,d

  Frail, %

19.1

4.1

  Pre-frail, %

63.8

59.2

  Non-frail, %

17.1

36.7

 MMSE (0–30)

26.6 ± 2.6

26.2 ± 2.8

.963^a

 GDS-15 (0–15)

4.4 ± 2.5

2.7 ± 2.3

.001^a,d

 Fasting glucose (mg/dL)

131.3 ± 39.6

128.1 ± 32.4

.907^a

 Disease duration (years)

9.6 ± 8.5

8.2 ± 8.1

.358^a

Functional Tests

 TUG (s)

11.8 ± 3.7

10.2 ± 1.7

.003^a,d

 5-STS (s)

15.9 ± 5.0

13.8 ± 2.7

.012^a,d

 Handgrip strength (kgf)

19.6 ± 4.4

20.7 ± 4.0

.180^b

Gait Parameters

 Velocity (cm/s)

108.2 ± 21.6

120.1 ± 14.7

.012^a,d

 Cadence (steps/min)

112.4 ± 11.7

117.0 ± 7.6

.023^b,d

 Step length (cm)

57.3 ± 7.9

61.5 ± 5.6

.002^b,d

 Step time (s)

0.54 ± 0.06

0.51 ± 0.03

.111^a

 Swing time (s)

0.42 ± 0.05

0.41 ± 0.03

.283^a

 Stance time (s)

0.66 ± 0.09

0.62 ± 0.05

.083^a

 Double support time (s)

0.24 ± 0.06

0.22 ± 0.03

.197^a

 Velocity CV (%)

4.6 ± 1.9

4.2 ± 2.1

.245^a

 Step length CV (%)

3.5 ± 1.3

3.3 ± 1.1

.352^a

 Step time CV (%)

3.7 ± 2.2

3.1 ± 1.5

.045^a,d

 Swing time CV (%)

4.5 ± 2.4

3.6 ± 1.2

.012^a,d

 Stance time CV (%)

3.6 ± 1.6

3.2 ± 1.8

.073^a

 Double support time CV (%)

8.6 ± 4.4

8.0 ± 3.2

.484^a