The Moderating Effect of Physical Activity on the Association Between Cognitive Function and Fear of Falling in Low-Income Community-Dwelling Older Adults.

The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot show a cause-and-effect relationship between fear of falling and cognitive function or physical activity. The main association and moderation were null, so it does not support that physical activity buffers the link between cognition and fear. Participants were community-dwelling older adults with no cognitive impairment at study entry, and average cognitive scores were in the no-impairment range, so findings may not apply to people with cognitive impairment. Participants had relatively low fear of falling on average, so findings may not apply to people with high fear of falling. The study was conducted in low-income settings in the United States, so caution is needed in generalizing to older adults outside these settings. The analysis used data from the PEER study, not a new randomized trial of physical activity.

Do not conclude that increasing physical activity reduces fear of falling or that cognitive function causes fear of falling. This was a cross-sectional study, the cognitive-fear association was not significant, and physical activity did not significantly moderate that association.