Evaluating the Swedish version of the Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I)

A number of instruments measuring psychological outcomes of falling exist, e.g. the Falls Efficacy Scale (FES). An extended version of the FES, the Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I), has been developed and translated into several European languages. The aims of this study were to evaluate internal reliability, examine the internal structure of the FES-I(S) (the Swedish version of the FES-I), and to examine the correlation between fear of falling and health-related quality of life measured with Short Form 12 (SF-12). Eighty-six participants, aged 50-85 years (88% women), recruited from the Orthopaedic Department, Lund University Hospital, and treated for a fall-related fracture, answered the FES-I(S), SF-12 and a questionnaire of background factors. The FES-I(S) showed a high internal reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.95) and an inter-item correlation averaging 0.55. Factor analyses discriminated two factors dominated by items of less and more demanding physical activities, respectively. All items loaded strongly on a unitary underlying dimension There were significant correlations (p = 0.01) between the FES-I(S) and SF-12 physical component score and the FES-I(S) and SF-12 mental component score with Spearman's rank correlation coefficient of -0.591 and -0.402, respectively. The FES-I(S) will be useful to assess fear of falling in Sweden in rehabilitation research and in clinical trials. Further studies are suggested to verify FES-I(S) validity.