FEAR OF FALLING REVISITED

Objective: To evaluate the measurement properties of an expanded versi on of the Falls Efficacy Scale (FES)-a measure of fear of falling. The original FES measures fear on almost exclusively indoor activities, w hich may limit the usefulness of the scale in identifying early stages of fear of falling in active community-dwelling older people. Design: Two-group convenience sample. Setting: An outpatient referral clinic, and community-dwelling older people recruited from various sources. S ubjects: A volunteer sample of 111 healthy community-dwelling elderly (mean age 74.0 years) and a sample of 68 older people referred to a Fa lls and Balance Clinic (FBC) (mean age 79.2). Twenty-one subjects (9 h ealthy elderly and 12 FBC patients) were tested twice 1 week apart to investigate retest reliability.Main Outcome Measures: A 14-activity qu estionnaire (the Modified Falls Efficacy Scale [MFES]) was used that i ncorporated the original 10-activity FES and four additional activitie s. Falls efficacy was rated on a IO-point visual analogue scale for ea ch activity. Results and Conclusions: The MFES demonstrated high inter nal consistency (Cronbach's alpha .95) and less skew than the original FES (-2.4 and -3.3, respectively). Factor analysis of the MFES reveal ed two factors accounting for 75% of the sample variance, grouping int o an ''indoor type activity'' factor and an ''outdoor type activity'' factor. Retest reliability for the MFES was high (intraclass correlati on coefficients = .93). Significant differences were evident between t he FBC group and the healthy older group on all items of the MFES and on the total MFES score (p <.05). On the basis of these preliminary fi ndings, the MFES appears to be a reliable and valid measure of falls s elf-efficacy, and could be a useful addition in the comprehensive asse ssment of older people with balance disturbance or falls. (C) 1996 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Acad emy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation