The frequency of fall, fear of fall and its related factors among Iranian elderly: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Fall is a common health problem among elder and can have many physical and psychological consequences, including injuries, mobility problem, hospitalization, institutionalization, fear of falling again and even death. Objective: The aim of present study was to assess the frequency of fall, fear of fall and its related factors among Iranian elders by systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: The data was gathered from the literature published in Scopus, Magiran, SID, PubMed, Google Scholar, Google, and Web of Science. The search strategy was done using the following combined text and MeSH terms included “elderly fall”, “accidental fall”, “prevalence of fall”, “fear of fall”, and “risk factor for fall”. Persian equivalents of these keywords were also searched in Iranian databases. The time span included articles published within 2007–2017. The data was analyzed using STATA (version 14) software and meta-regression. Results: The mean number of fall events among elders was 1.9 (95 % CI: 1.15–2.64, P = 0.072) within the past year. The fall rate was obtained 32 % (95 % CI: 0.30–0.34, P