Assessment tools of the fear of falling: A scoping review.

AIM

To comprehensively evaluate and synthesize fear of falling assessment tools and their psychometric properties.

METHODS

The literature in PubMed, Web of Science Core Collection, Cochrane Library, Embase, Google Scholar, CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, and CBM was systematically searched, and the search period was from the establishment of the database to September 1, 2023, and updated on September 1, 2024.

RESULTS

A total of 104 documents covering 19 assessment tools were included. Of the 19 instruments, the Falls Efficacy Scale-International was the most widely used and had been tested for reliability and validity in different countries and populations. A total of 18 studies focused on tool development and validation, and the remaining 86 were related to tool validation.

CONCLUSION

Scientific and reliable assessment instruments for FOF are an important part of future targeted intervention research. The future research direction of tools should be based on local demographic characteristics and qualitative interview results, combined with objective quantitative indicators measured by professional instruments.