FEAR OF FALLING AND ACTIVITY RESTRICTION - THE SURVEY OF ACTIVITIES AND FEAR OF FALLING IN THE ELDERLY (SAFE)

A new instrument was developed to assess the role of fear of falling i n activity restriction. The instrument assesses fear of falling during performance of 11 activities, and gathers information about participa tion in these activities as well as the extent to which fear is a sour ce of activity restriction. The instrument demonstrated good internal consistency reliability and showed convergent validity with other fear of falling measures. Concurrent (empirical) validity was demonstrated in that the scale was effective in differentiating among those who we re expected to be afraid vs. not afraid of falling. Criterion validity was examined in relation to quality of life variables. Fear of fallin g was shown to be related to lower quality of life, even when controll ing for related background factors. One advantage of this measure over existing measures is the possibility for differentiating fear of fall ing that leads to activity restriction from fear of falling that accom panies activity. This may provide useful information for those interes ted in treating fear of falling or promoting activity among the elderl y.