Abstract
Background. Falls in older people decrease quality of life and increase mortality. There is littleresearch on perceptions of the cause of a fall and their influence on health outcomes. Method.A survey (N¼196) of older people hospitalised after a fall recorded attributions for the causeof the fall. A follow-up survey at 6 months measured functional limitation, anxiety anddepression. Findings. of the participants, 44.3% saw their fall as due to their character, 15.6%due to their behaviour, and 40.1% due to external factors. A hopelessness explanatory stylewas found in 21.1% of participants. Perceiving age as the cause of the fall predicted (p5.06)higher levels of depression at 6 months, while having hopelessness explanatory stylesignificantly predicted higher functional limitation (p¼.001). Discussion. Causal attributionsof fall events impact on physical and mental health outcomes, offering a route forpsychological intervention to reframe the meaning attached to a fall.