Cecilia Ferrer Soler1, Clémence Cuvelier1, Mélany Hars2, François R Herrmann1,3, Adrienne Charpiot4, Catherine Ducharne Wieczorkiewicz1,3, Olivier Bruyère4, Charlotte Beaudart4, Dina Zekry3, Gabriel Gold1, Andrea Trombetti5,6. 1. Division of Geriatrics, Department of Rehabilitation and Geriatrics, Geneva University Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, Thônex, Switzerland. 2. Division of Bone Diseases, Department of Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland. 3. Division of Internal Medicine for the Aged, Department of Rehabilitation and Geriatrics, Geneva University Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, Thônex, Switzerland. 4. Division of Public Health, Epidemiology and Health Economics, World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Public Health Aspects of Musculoskeletal Health and Ageing, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium. 5. Division of Geriatrics, Department of Rehabilitation and Geriatrics, Geneva University Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, Thônex, Switzerland. andrea.trombetti@hcuge.ch. 6. Division of Bone Diseases, Department of Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland. andrea.trombetti@hcuge.ch.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Fear of falling is highly prevalent in older adults and associated with numerous negative health events. The main objective of this study was to validate a scale to assess fear of falling, based on performance in real situation (Perform-FES), in a hospitalized geriatric population. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 55 patients (mean age: 85.3 years; 58% women) hospitalized in a geriatric hospital in Geneva (Switzerland) were enrolled. The Perform-FES scale was administered to all patients in conjunction with four other fear of falling scales. We determined the floor and ceiling effects, internal consistency, reliability, construct validity, and discriminative power of the Perform-FES scale. RESULTS: The Perform-FES scale did not demonstrate any significant floor or ceiling effect. It had a good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.78) and an excellent reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.94). Regarding convergent validity, good correlations were shown between the score obtained on the Perform-FES scale and those obtained on other fear of falling scales. Also, the Perform-FES scale was able to discriminate patients with severe functional impairments (area under the ROC curve = 0.81) and had significantly better discriminating performance than other fear of falling scales. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest that the Perform-FES scale has good psychometric properties and may be a relevant tool to assess fear of falling in a geriatric hospitalized population. Future research should focus in particular on assessing the sensitivity to change and the predictive value of this scale in longitudinal studies, and its validity in other populations.
BACKGROUND: Fear of falling is highly prevalent in older adults and associated with numerous negative health events. The main objective of this study was to validate a scale to assess fear of falling, based on performance in real situation (Perform-FES), in a hospitalized geriatric population. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 55 patients (mean age: 85.3 years; 58% women) hospitalized in a geriatric hospital in Geneva (Switzerland) were enrolled. The Perform-FES scale was administered to all patients in conjunction with four other fear of falling scales. We determined the floor and ceiling effects, internal consistency, reliability, construct validity, and discriminative power of the Perform-FES scale. RESULTS: The Perform-FES scale did not demonstrate any significant floor or ceiling effect. It had a good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.78) and an excellent reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.94). Regarding convergent validity, good correlations were shown between the score obtained on the Perform-FES scale and those obtained on other fear of falling scales. Also, the Perform-FES scale was able to discriminate patients with severe functional impairments (area under the ROC curve = 0.81) and had significantly better discriminating performance than other fear of falling scales. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest that the Perform-FES scale has good psychometric properties and may be a relevant tool to assess fear of falling in a geriatric hospitalized population. Future research should focus in particular on assessing the sensitivity to change and the predictive value of this scale in longitudinal studies, and its validity in other populations.
Entities:
Keywords:
Assessment; Fear of falling; Hospital; Older people; Psychometric validation
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