VALIDATION OF THE ITALIAN VERSION OF THE FALLS EFFICACY SCALE INTERNATIONAL (FES-I) AND THE SHORT FES-I IN COMMUNITY-DWELLING OLDER PERSONS

Fear of falling (FF) is a common problem in older persons. FF negatively affects the quality of life by generating anxiety, loss of confidence and of self-efficacy, and, ultimately, activity restriction and increased risk of falling. The FES-I and Short FES-I are two instruments developed to assess FF in older persons which have been already validated in some European countries. Our objectives are to develop the Italian version of FES-I and the Short FES-I and to validate them in older persons. The back translation protocol adopted by the ProFaNE group was used to translate both scales from English to Italian. Participants were 157 community-dwelling persons aged > 65 years who underwent comprehensive geriatric assessment, including a structured interview concerning FF, and were administered the FES-I and the Short FES-I. Both scales were re-tested after 4 weeks in 151 persons. FES-I and Short FES-I had high internal validity and test-retest reliability. The Short FES-I is highly comparable with the FES-I. We conclude that the FES-I and the Short FES-I are excellent instruments to asses FF in Italian older subjects and they may be used in future research projects and clinical trials.