Development of a geriatric fear of falling questionnaire for assessing the fear of falling of thai elders

Abstract

[Purpose] The fear of falling is a common problem among older people and it can lead to activity restriction and risk of future falls. A tool to assess the fear of falling in Thailand was not available; thus, it was essential to develop an appropriate questionnaire that can determine the severity of the fear of falling. [Subjects] Five hundred elderly subjects aged 60 years old or over participated in this study. [Methods] This study created a new questionnaire called the Thai Geriatric Fear of Falling Questionnaire consisting of 34 items with a 6-point Likert scale separated into 3 major domains: 15 physical and functioning items, 8 in environmental items and 11 psychosocial items. Then the psychometric properties of the new questionnaire were assessed. [Results] The reliability results show the internal consistency (r = 0.965) and test-retest reliability (r = 0.874) were excellent. The validity results for content (4 expert agreements), convergent (r = -0.910), and discriminative (r = 0.122) were satisfactory. The best cut-off score of 66 was also identified from the acceptable area under the curve, sensitivity, and specificity (0.794, 90.1%, and 100%, respectively). [Conclusion] The Thai Geriatric Fear of Falling Questionnaire can be used as an instrument to assess the fear of falling. Utilizing this tool, health personnel can become aware of and better able to manage the problems associated with activity restriction from the fear of falling.