132 – Novel Applications Using Nonparametric Methods
Novel Scale Development for Fear of Falling and Falls: Analyzed Using a Semiparametric Ratio Estimator (SPRE)
Deborah Weissman-Miller
Brenau University
Kay C. Graham
Brenau University
Fear of falling (fof) and falls in older adults are an increasingly severe worldwide public health problem impacting quality of life and functional status. The Falls Weight Function (FWF) uses a new scale developed to enable researchers to incorporate fear of falling (fof) into analyses with participants who have already experienced a fall. FWF is a weight function used in initial data transforms for ordinary least squares regression analysis using the semiparametric ratio estimator (SPRE) to predict a change point and subsequent point estimations. FWF data is defined as belonging to a discrete set of numbers that is finite or countable. In a pilot study using Stepping On� falls reduction treatment for elders, initial data is taken from a screening tool where fof responses are counted and summed as increments of 10 values. These values, which range from .1 to 1.0, are multiplied by 1fall. The un-weighted value of 1 fall is multiplied by the weight function for fof. Then the scale of falls and fof is the same, and represented on a continuum of fear of falling to having a fall, so that all participants can be treated together and analysed in the same set of linear regressions.