Psychometric properties of the original and short versions of the Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I) in people with Parkinson's disease
Jonasson, Stina B. LU
; Nilsson, Maria H.
LU
and Lexell, Jan
LU
(2017)
In Health and Quality of Life Outcomes
15(1).
p.1-8
- Abstract
Background: Fear of falling is common in people with Parkinson's disease (PD) and is associated with an increased risk for future falls, activity limitations and a reduced quality of life. The Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I) assesses fear of falling conceptualized as concerns about falling. The original FES-I has good psychometric properties in people with PD, but whether this applies also for the short version of FES-I remains to be shown. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the short FES-I and to compare these with the original FES-I in the same sample of people with PD. The investigated psychometric properties included known groups validity, data completeness, scaling assumptions,... (More)
Background: Fear of falling is common in people with Parkinson's disease (PD) and is associated with an increased risk for future falls, activity limitations and a reduced quality of life. The Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I) assesses fear of falling conceptualized as concerns about falling. The original FES-I has good psychometric properties in people with PD, but whether this applies also for the short version of FES-I remains to be shown. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the short FES-I and to compare these with the original FES-I in the same sample of people with PD. The investigated psychometric properties included known groups validity, data completeness, scaling assumptions, targeting and reliability. Methods: A postal survey, which included the original, full-length FES-I, was distributed to 174 people with PD. Responders received a second survey after two weeks. From these data, short FES-I total scores were calculated by extracting the items that are included in the short version of the scale. Results: Median age and PD duration of the 101 responders (43% women) were 73 and 5 years, respectively. The original as well as the short FES-I scores were able to discriminate (p < 0.001) between groups with and without fear of falling, activity avoidance, falls, near falls, and with various self-rated PD severity, respectively. Both versions of FES-I had a high level of data completeness (0.7 to 0.9% missing item responses). Scaling assumptions were acceptable for the original as well as the short FES-I. While the short FES-I had 19% floor effect, the original version was better targeted. Both versions were reliable and obtained high values for internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha >0.8) and test-retest reliability (Intraclass Correlation Coefficient > 0.9). Conclusions: Both the original and short FES-I revealed generally good psychometric properties in people with PD, although the original scale was better targeted. Due to the higher floor effect in the short FES-I, the present findings favors using the original, full-length FES-I in longitudinal follow-ups, intervention studies and clinical practice when addressing concerns about falling.
(Less)
- author
- Jonasson, Stina B.
LU
; Nilsson, Maria H.
LU
and Lexell, Jan
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2017-05-31
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Concerns about falling, Parkinson disease, Psychometrics, Reliability of results
- in
- Health and Quality of Life Outcomes
- volume
- 15
- issue
- 1
- article number
- 116
- pages
- 1 - 8
- publisher
- BioMed Central (BMC)
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:28569162
- wos:000402680100001
- scopus:85020025067
- ISSN
- 1477-7525
- DOI
- 10.1186/s12955-017-0689-6
- project
- Home, Health and Disability along the Process of Ageing
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- f390cf48-9635-481c-b383-5987f7b30115
- date added to LUP
- 2017-06-21 14:12:07
- date last changed
- 2025-01-10 02:48:27
@article{f390cf48-9635-481c-b383-5987f7b30115,
abstract = {{<p>Background: Fear of falling is common in people with Parkinson's disease (PD) and is associated with an increased risk for future falls, activity limitations and a reduced quality of life. The Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I) assesses fear of falling conceptualized as concerns about falling. The original FES-I has good psychometric properties in people with PD, but whether this applies also for the short version of FES-I remains to be shown. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the short FES-I and to compare these with the original FES-I in the same sample of people with PD. The investigated psychometric properties included known groups validity, data completeness, scaling assumptions, targeting and reliability. Methods: A postal survey, which included the original, full-length FES-I, was distributed to 174 people with PD. Responders received a second survey after two weeks. From these data, short FES-I total scores were calculated by extracting the items that are included in the short version of the scale. Results: Median age and PD duration of the 101 responders (43% women) were 73 and 5 years, respectively. The original as well as the short FES-I scores were able to discriminate (p < 0.001) between groups with and without fear of falling, activity avoidance, falls, near falls, and with various self-rated PD severity, respectively. Both versions of FES-I had a high level of data completeness (0.7 to 0.9% missing item responses). Scaling assumptions were acceptable for the original as well as the short FES-I. While the short FES-I had 19% floor effect, the original version was better targeted. Both versions were reliable and obtained high values for internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha >0.8) and test-retest reliability (Intraclass Correlation Coefficient > 0.9). Conclusions: Both the original and short FES-I revealed generally good psychometric properties in people with PD, although the original scale was better targeted. Due to the higher floor effect in the short FES-I, the present findings favors using the original, full-length FES-I in longitudinal follow-ups, intervention studies and clinical practice when addressing concerns about falling.</p>}},
author = {{Jonasson, Stina B. and Nilsson, Maria H. and Lexell, Jan}},
issn = {{1477-7525}},
keywords = {{Concerns about falling; Parkinson disease; Psychometrics; Reliability of results}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{05}},
number = {{1}},
pages = {{1--8}},
publisher = {{BioMed Central (BMC)}},
series = {{Health and Quality of Life Outcomes}},
title = {{Psychometric properties of the original and short versions of the Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I) in people with Parkinson's disease}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12955-017-0689-6}},
doi = {{10.1186/s12955-017-0689-6}},
volume = {{15}},
year = {{2017}},
}