The Short FES-I: a shortened version of the falls efficacy scale-international to assess fear of falling.
BACKGROUND
the 16-item Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I) has been shown to have excellent reliability and construct validity. However, for practical and clinical purposes, a shortened version of the FES-I would be useful.


OBJECTIVE
to develop and validate a shortened version of FES-I while preserving good psychometric properties.


METHODS
initial development of a shortened version using data from a UK survey (Short FES-I; n = 704), test of reliability and validity of the Short FES-I using data from a Dutch survey (n = 300).


METHODS
community samples.


METHODS
comparison of reliability and validity of the Short FES-I and the FES-I in a random sample of 193 people aged between 70 and 92.


RESULTS
the internal and 4-week test-retest reliability of the Short FES-I is excellent (Cronbach's alpha 0.92, intra-class coefficient 0.83) and comparable to the FES-I. The correlation between the Short FES-I and the FES-I is 0.97. Patterns in differences with respect to mean scores according to age, sex, falls history, and overall fear of falling are similar for the Short FES-I and the FES-I. The FES-I had slightly better power to discriminate between groups differentiated by age, sex, falls history, and fear falling, but differences are small.


CONCLUSIONS
the Short FES-I is a good and feasible measure to assess fear of falling in older persons. However, if researchers or clinicians are particularly interested in the distributions of specific fear of falling-related activities not included in the Short FES-I, the use of the full FES-I is recommended.
Kempen
Gertrudis I J M
GI
School for Public Health and Primary Care, Maastricht University, The Netherlands. g.kempen@zw.unimaas.nl
Yardley
Lucy
L
van Haastregt
Jolanda C M
JC
Zijlstra
G A Rixt
GA
Beyer
Nina
N
Hauer
Klaus
K
Todd
Chris
C
D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005239:Fear / Q000523:psychology*; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom