Reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the Falls Efficacy Scale International (FES-I) in community-dwelling older persons

• Published in: Archives of gerontology and geriatrics 2012-05, Vol.54 (3), p.429-433
• Main Authors: Ulus, Yasemin, Durmus, Dilek, Akyol, Yesim, Terzi, Yuksel, Bilgici, Ayhan, Kuru, Omer
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Accidental Falls - statistics & numerical data; Activities of Daily Living - psychology; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Community living; Falls; Falls Efficacy Scale International; Fear - psychology; Fear of falling; Female; Gait; Geriatrics; Humans; Internal Medicine; Male; Older people; Reliability; Reproducibility of Results; Residence Characteristics - statistics & numerical data; Surveys and Questionnaires; Test-Retest reliability; Translating; Turkey; Turkish version; Validity and reliability; Volunteers
• ISSN: 0167-4943; 1872-6976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.archger.2011.06.010

Abstract The FES-I is a questionnaire which was developed to assess fear of falling. The aim of this study was to evaluate validity and reliability of a Turkish language version of the FES-I in Turkish older people. The study sample included 70 volunteers with an age range of 65–81. To assess the test–retest reliability of the Turkish FES-I, questionnaire was applied again 10–15 days after the first interview (interclass correlation: ICC). FES-I was compared with The Modified Barthel Index (MBI), the timed up and go test (TUG), and The Berg Balance Scale (BBS) for construct validity. Cronbach's alpha ( α ) was used to evaluate the internal consistency. The internal structure of the FES-I was examined by factor analysis. ROC plots were used to define cut-point for the FES-I scales. Cronbach's α of the Turkish FES-I was 0.94 and the individual item ICC ranged from 0.97 to 0.99. The Turkish FES-I total scores were correlated with TUG positively, and MBI, and BBS negatively. The cut-off score to differentiate between persons with fear of falling and persons without fear of falling was 24 points. It was found that the Turkish version of the FES-I was a reliable and valid measure of fear of falling in Turkish older people.