discharge home; (2) explore the relationships between fear of falling and performance of

ADLs, IADLs, and depression; and (3) examine the relationship between fear of falling

and caregiver depression, burden, and coping.

 Methods

Design

 This study used both qualitative and quantitative methods to evaluate fear of falling

in a population of veterans discharged home post-stroke. Participants who discussed fear

of falling were identified in the sample enrolled in the larger study. Content analysis was

used to identify descriptors that characterize fear of falling across six months after

discharge home post acute stroke. Patton describes content analysis as the process of

identification, coding, and categorization of the primary patterns in qualitative data [231].

Quantitative data were obtained from standardized outcome measures collected from

stroke survivors and their caregivers at one and six months.

Sample

 All veterans and caregivers included in this study met the inclusion criteria to

participate in the larger study. The larger study included a total of 132 participants, 42

(32%) of these participants were identified with fear of falling at one or six months and

were included in the sub-study. The inclusion criteria for veterans to be involved in the

larger study were: (1) member of one of three ethnic groups (Caucasian, African

American, or Puerto Rican Hispanic), (2) discharged directly home from an acute care

unit following a stroke, (3) a Mini Mental Status Exam (MMSE) of 18 or higher and able

to verbally communicate at discharge, (4) have a caregiver willing to participate, and (5)

sign a consent form or have the consent form signed by a proxy. Inclusion criteria for the

informal caregivers were: (1) family or friend who the stroke survivor identified as a