AUTHOR=McCarthy Kevin , Ward Mark , Romero Ortuño Román , Kenny Rose Anne 

TITLE=Syncope, Fear of Falling and Quality of Life Among Older Adults: Findings From the Irish Longitudinal Study on Aging (TILDA)

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine

VOLUME=7

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cardiovascular-medicine/articles/10.3389/fcvm.2020.00007

DOI=10.3389/fcvm.2020.00007

ISSN=2297-055X

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Objective:</bold> Syncope is a prevalent condition that has a marked impact on quality of life. We examined the association between syncope and quality of life (QoL) and whether this association was explained by fear of falling (FoF).</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> We examined data from Wave 3 of The Irish Longitudinal Study on Aging (TILDA), of adults aged ≥50 years (<italic>n</italic> = 4,946) who were asked to report syncope and who completed the CASP-12 QoL instrument. Analyses were stratified by age and gender.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> Over 20% of participants reported having a previous syncopal episode, while 8% reported a faint, blackout or unexplained fall in the last year. QoL scores decreased as the burden of syncope increased: linear regression models adjusted for covariates showed that those having had two or more syncopal episodes in the last year reported a significantly lower CASP-12 score compared to those with none (<italic>p</italic> = 0.011). FoF partially mediated the association between syncope and QoL, particularly among younger participants.</p><p><bold>Conclusions:</bold> Syncope is a common condition among older adults that has a deleterious effect on QoL, with ≥2 recent syncopal episodes having a particularly adverse impact on QoL. FoF is a potential pathway which may both explain this association and allow therapeutic interventions by health practitioners.</p>