Validation of the falls efficacy scale-international in fall-prone older persons

SIR—Fear of falling in community-dwelling older persons [1, 2] may lead to activity restriction [3]. It can predict future falls [4] and is an important fall-related psychological outcome [5–9]. The widely used 10-item Falls Efficacy Scale (FES) [5] does not evaluate the social dimension of fear of falling and refers almost exclusively to very basic activities of daily living, making it insensitive when used in active older persons. To remedy this, a new 16-item Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I) [10] has been developed by the Prevention of Falls Network Europe (ProFaNE, www.profane.eu.org), showing excellent psychometric properties in a cross-cultural context [11]. Furthermore, a seven-item FES-I has been developed and recommended for use as part of a test battery and for screening purposes [12]. The evaluation of the FES-I has so far been performed in community-dwelling non-clinical samples. To examine the relevance of the two FES-I versions for health care settings, further evaluation of the instrument should include fall-prone older persons. The aim of this study was to test the psychometric properties of the Norwegian version of the 16-item FES-I in samples of fall-prone older home-dwelling persons recruited from the health care system and to assess if the seven-item FES-I has the same properties as the 16-item FES-I in these samples. <br/