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Development and testing of a self administered version of the Freezing of Gait Questionnaire

Nilsson, Maria H LU orcid ; Hariz, Gun-Marie ; Wictorin, Klas LU ; Miller, Michael LU ; Forsgren, Lars and Hagell, Peter LU (2010) In BMC Neurology 10.
Abstract
Background: The Freezing of Gait Questionnaire (FOGQ) was developed in response to the difficulties of observing and quantifying freezing of gait (FOG) clinically as well as in laboratory settings. However, as the FOGQ is a clinician-administered patient-reported rating scale it cannot be used in postal surveys. Here we report the development and measurement properties of a self-administered version of the FOGQ (FOGQsa). Methods: A clinical sample and a postal survey sample of non-demented people with Parkinson's disease (PD; total n = 225) completed the FOGQsa and questionnaires concerning physical functioning (PF) and fall-related self efficacy (FES). Additional questions (No/Yes) regarded previous falls and whether they were afraid of... (More)
Background: The Freezing of Gait Questionnaire (FOGQ) was developed in response to the difficulties of observing and quantifying freezing of gait (FOG) clinically as well as in laboratory settings. However, as the FOGQ is a clinician-administered patient-reported rating scale it cannot be used in postal surveys. Here we report the development and measurement properties of a self-administered version of the FOGQ (FOGQsa). Methods: A clinical sample and a postal survey sample of non-demented people with Parkinson's disease (PD; total n = 225) completed the FOGQsa and questionnaires concerning physical functioning (PF) and fall-related self efficacy (FES). Additional questions (No/Yes) regarded previous falls and whether they were afraid of falling. The clinical sample was also assessed with the Unified PD Rating Scale (UPDRS). Thirty-five participants completed FOGQsa and were also assessed with the original version (FOGQ) in a clinical interview. Results: There were no differences (P = 0.12) between FOGQ (median, 10; q1-q3, 2-14) and FOGQsa (median, 8; 214) scores. The Spearman (r(s)) and intra-class correlations between the two were 0.92 and 0.91 (95% CI, 0.82-0.95), respectively. For FOGQsa, corrected item-total correlations ranged between 0.68-0.89. Reliability was 0.93 (95% CI, 0.91-0.94). FOGQsa scores correlated strongest with UPDRS Item 14 (Freezing; r(s), 0.76) and with FES (r(s), -0.74). The weakest correlation was found with age (r(s), 0.14). Fallers scored significantly (p < 0.001) higher on FOGQsa compared to non-fallers, median scores 8 (q1-q3, 4-14) versus 2 (0-7). Those expressing a fear of falling scored higher (p < 0.001) than those who did not, median scores 2 (0-7) versus 6 (2-14). Conclusions: The present findings indicate that the FOGQsa is as reliable and valid as the original interview administered FOGQ version. This has important clinical implications when investigating FOG in large scale studies. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
BMC Neurology
volume
10
article number
85
publisher
BioMed Central (BMC)
external identifiers
  • wos:000283240300002
  • scopus:77956886340
  • pmid:20863392
ISSN
1471-2377
DOI
10.1186/1471-2377-10-85
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015. The record was previously connected to the following departments: Division of Physiotherapy (Closed 2012) (013042000), Caring Sciences (Closed 2012) (016514020), Neurology, Lund (013027000)
id
962358e6-5963-4995-ac65-49c07e6760d6 (old id 1721075)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 13:52:51
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2022-04-22 00:10:42
@article{962358e6-5963-4995-ac65-49c07e6760d6,
  abstract     = {{Background: The Freezing of Gait Questionnaire (FOGQ) was developed in response to the difficulties of observing and quantifying freezing of gait (FOG) clinically as well as in laboratory settings. However, as the FOGQ is a clinician-administered patient-reported rating scale it cannot be used in postal surveys. Here we report the development and measurement properties of a self-administered version of the FOGQ (FOGQsa). Methods: A clinical sample and a postal survey sample of non-demented people with Parkinson's disease (PD; total n = 225) completed the FOGQsa and questionnaires concerning physical functioning (PF) and fall-related self efficacy (FES). Additional questions (No/Yes) regarded previous falls and whether they were afraid of falling. The clinical sample was also assessed with the Unified PD Rating Scale (UPDRS). Thirty-five participants completed FOGQsa and were also assessed with the original version (FOGQ) in a clinical interview. Results: There were no differences (P = 0.12) between FOGQ (median, 10; q1-q3, 2-14) and FOGQsa (median, 8; 214) scores. The Spearman (r(s)) and intra-class correlations between the two were 0.92 and 0.91 (95% CI, 0.82-0.95), respectively. For FOGQsa, corrected item-total correlations ranged between 0.68-0.89. Reliability was 0.93 (95% CI, 0.91-0.94). FOGQsa scores correlated strongest with UPDRS Item 14 (Freezing; r(s), 0.76) and with FES (r(s), -0.74). The weakest correlation was found with age (r(s), 0.14). Fallers scored significantly (p &lt; 0.001) higher on FOGQsa compared to non-fallers, median scores 8 (q1-q3, 4-14) versus 2 (0-7). Those expressing a fear of falling scored higher (p &lt; 0.001) than those who did not, median scores 2 (0-7) versus 6 (2-14). Conclusions: The present findings indicate that the FOGQsa is as reliable and valid as the original interview administered FOGQ version. This has important clinical implications when investigating FOG in large scale studies.}},
  author       = {{Nilsson, Maria H and Hariz, Gun-Marie and Wictorin, Klas and Miller, Michael and Forsgren, Lars and Hagell, Peter}},
  issn         = {{1471-2377}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{BioMed Central (BMC)}},
  series       = {{BMC Neurology}},
  title        = {{Development and testing of a self administered version of the Freezing of Gait Questionnaire}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/3641846/1745734.pdf}},
  doi          = {{10.1186/1471-2377-10-85}},
  volume       = {{10}},
  year         = {{2010}},
}