Despite the number of studies that have tried to demonstrate that there is an association between previous falls and the fear of falling, the relationship between these two variables remains a matter of controversy. Our objective was to investigate whether the fear of falling is a cause of falls, a consequence, or both in community-dwelling adults aged ≥ 75 years old. A descriptive, longitudinal, prospective study was performed. A total of 640 individuals were interviewed between 2009 and 2011. Sociodemographic data, health status, history of falls and fear of falling were assessed at baseline and at 24 months. The prevalence of falls at baseline was 25% as opposed to 35.2% at 24 months. The prevalence of the fear of falling was 41.5% at baseline. Logistic regression analysis showed a significant association between a history of falls and the fear of falling. Other factors associated with the fear of falling were female gender, comorbidity, depressive symptoms, and disability. In total, 41.7% of the subjects who had reported a fear of falling at baseline had suffered at least one fall 24 months later. Unadjusted Cox regression analysis revealed that the fear of falling was a risk factor for falls. According to the final model adjusted for other covariates, the only reliable predictor was female gender. The Cox model stratified by gender failed to show a crude association between fear of falling and falls. A previous history of falls in the previous year was a good predictor of the fear of falling; but the fear of falling was a predictor of falls during follow-up only in the unadjusted model, pointing to strong gender turns out as an effect modifier of the association of FOF and subsequent falls. Nursing staff working in elderly care should not only routinely assess patients’ previous history of falls, but also evaluate their fear of falling and its associated factors.

The COVID‐19 crisis in Spain has exacerbated the shortage of nursing staff to respond to increasing healthcare demands. For this reason, nursing students were requested to collaborate voluntarily as auxiliary health staff. This emergency has led to mental health problems in health professionals, hence the relevance of coping techniques. The objectives of this study were to explore the experiences and emotional responses of final‐year nursing students who volunteered to carry out healthcare relief tasks during the peak of the COVID‐19 pandemic, and to identify the coping strategies they adopted to deal with this situation. A qualitative study was conducted in the constructivist paradigm. Purposive sampling was used, and twenty‐two students participated in semi‐structured interviews, which were then content‐analysed. The study is reported using the COREQ checklist. Five themes emerged in the ‘Experiences and emotional response’ dimension (context, patients, emotions and feelings, risk of contagion, and personal satisfaction), and three themes emerged in the ‘Coping strategies’ dimension strategies in the work environment, in daily life and personal life. Although the students expressed negative emotions due to the highly complex context and lack of professional experience, they evaluated the experience positively in terms of learning and usefulness. Most notably, the students employed adaptive coping strategies to deal with the pandemic.

Background: Given the beneficial effects of exercise in different populations and the close relationship between healthy ageing and sleep quality, our objective was to determine if physical exercise delivered through a structured program improves sleep quality in older adults. Methods: Embase, PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science, and Cochrane Register of Clinical Trials (CENTRAL) were searched to 15 January 2023. Studies that applied physical exercise programs in older adults were reviewed. Two independent reviewers analysed the studies, extracted the data, and assessed the quality of evidence. Results: Of the 2599 reports returned by the initial search, 13 articles reporting on 2612 patients were included in the data synthesis. The articles used interventions based on yoga (n = 5), multicomponent exercise (n = 3), walking (n = 2), cycling (n = 1), pilates (n = 1), elastic bands (n = 1), and healthy beat acupunch (n = 1). In the intervention group, we found significant improvement in Pittsburgh sleep quality index of −2.49 points (95% CI −3.84 to −1.14) in comparison to the control group (p = 0.0003) and sleep efficiency measured with objective instruments (MD 1.18%, 95% CI 0.86 to 1.50%, p < 0.0001). Conclusion: Our results found that physical exercise programs in older adults improve sleep quality and efficiency measured with objective instruments.

The aim of this critical review was to clarify recommended fluid intake for older people. A literature search of published articles and guidelines on fluid intake recommendations until April 2020 was carried out using PUBMED, Scopus, Cochrane, and Google Scholar. In this review, we focused on people over 65 years old at different care levels. The results show that the mean fluid intake ranges between 311 and 2390 mL/day. However, it is difficult to know whether this corresponds to the real pattern of fluid intake, due to the variability of data collection methods. With respect to the recommendations, most international organizations do not take into consideration the physiology of ageing or the health problems associated with an older population. In conclusions, we recommend to follow the guideline of the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). ESPEN is the only guideline which takes into account age. It is also based on EFSA recommendations. This authority takes into consideration all fluids consumed (ranging from food to fluids). If it is known that around 20% of all fluids consumed come from food, the result would effectively be that the EFSA recommends the same as the ESPEN guidelines: 1.6 L/day for females and 2.0 L/day for males. The findings could help raise the awareness of professionals in the sector with respect to the required fluid intake of the elderly and, in this way, contribute to avoiding the consequences of dehydration.