Development of a New Fear of Falling Scale in Hong Kong: An Exploratory Study

Various scales have been developed in the last two decades to measure fear of falling (FOF). None reflect the Asian lifestyle when tested with elderly people in Hong Kong, so a relevant scale is needed to be developed. Fourteen daily tasks were identified by an expert panel when elderly people might have FOF. Focus groups were conducted using 55 participants aged 65 to 90 years to respond either “yes” or “no” to predetermined questions. For each task, subjects were asked the same question, “Are you afraid of falling when you perform this task?” For each task, participants were asked to identify the possible causes of FOF or no fear related to each task. The percentage of yes responses in each task was calculated. No participant had a yes response to hanging out washing, preparing simple hot meals or routine household cleaning. Squatting down and getting up again was the task with the highest percentage of yes responses. The percentages of yes responses in the other 10 tasks varied. There was no additional task suggested. Focus group responses were used to develop a new FOF scale relevant for use in measuring FOF among community-dwelling elderly people in Hong Kong.