[The assessment of fear of falling with the Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I). Development and psychometric properties in Dutch elderly]

Tijdschr Gerontol Geriatr. 2007 Aug;38(4):204-12.
[Article in Dutch]

Abstract

Fear of falling is common in older persons. Different methods have been developed to assess fear of falling. The most well-know measure is the 10-item Falls Efficacy Scale (FES). However, the FES items (a) focus on low functioning older persons and particularly on in-home activities, (b) do not comprise social activities, and (c) were developed from a US perspective so that translation in European languages is hampered. To solve these issues, the 16-item Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I) was recently developed within the Prevention of Falls Network Europe (ProFaNE). In this article, the Dutch version of the FES-I is presented and the psychometric properties in 213 Dutch persons aged 70 years of age and over are described. The FES-I showed to be unidimensional and internally consistent; the Cronbach alpha coefficient was 0.96. The 4 week test-retest intra-class correlation coefficient was 0.82. The associations of the FES-I sumscores with age, gender, falls history and overall fear of falling was as expected, indicating construct validity. In addition, the FES-I discriminated in the same extent as the original 10-item FES scale. We conclude that the FES-I showed acceptable reliability and construct validity and may be useful in cross-national research. Future studies should focus on the sensitivity to change of FES-I.

Publication types

  • English Abstract

MeSH terms

  • Accidental Falls*
  • Age Factors
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Fear / psychology*
  • Female
  • Geriatric Psychiatry* / methods
  • Geriatric Psychiatry* / standards
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Netherlands
  • Psychometrics
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Sex Factors
  • Surveys and Questionnaires / standards*