INTRODUCTION: Elderly who suffer from stroke with balance alterations are more likely to fall, and environmental risk factors may be involved in its etiology. OBJECTIVE: To correlate balance and home environment to risk of falls of elderly with stroke. METHODS: It's a descriptive, quantitative, cross-sectional study, and the sample comprised 25 elderly, aged 60 years or more, of both sexes, with previous history of stroke, living in the community and attended in two centers and two health units in the city of Jequié, State of Bahia, intentionally selected. RESULTS: The studied group presented a mean of 28.96 (± 15.65) seconds on the Timed Up and Go Test, varying from 8 to 70 seconds, and 36% of the individuals did the test in 30 seconds or more, presenting high risk of falls. On the Environmental Risk of Falls Adapted Scale, the evaluated houses showed a mean of 20.12 (± 4.79) points, varying from 9 to 27 points, where it was verified that 56% of the elderly had score higher than 20, showing high risk of falls among the elderly. The correlation between the balance of the elderly with stroke and home environment was positive and statistically significant (p = 0,039). CONCLUSION: The difficulty of balance showed by the elderly with stroke associated to high prevalence of risk factors found at home environment cross-refers to a worrying situation, and it becomes necessary to create actions towards the prevention of falls, with the intention of improving the quality of life of that population.
Aged; Stroke; Postural Balance; Accidental Falls; Risk Factors; Environmental Risks; Etiology; Health of the Elderly