Powell L E, Myers A M
University of Waterloo, Ontario, Department of Health Studies and Gerontology.
J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 1995 Jan;50A(1):M28-34. doi: 10.1093/gerona/50a.1.m28.
This study provides a replication of the Falls Efficacy Scale (FES) and a head-to-head comparison with the Activities-specific Balance Confidence (ABC) Scale designed to include a wider continuum of activity difficulty and more detailed item descriptors.
Items for the newly developed 16-item ABC Scale were generated by 15 clinicians and 12 elderly outpatients. Psychometric testing involved 60 community seniors (aged 65-95) self-classified as either high or low in mobility confidence according to their perceived need for a walking aid and personal assistance to ambulate outdoors.
Both the FES and ABC scales were found to be internally consistent and demonstrated good test-retest reliability, convergent and criterion validity. Scalogram analyses indicated a stronger cumulative scale in the case of the ABC and skewness in the distribution of FES scores. While both scales were able to discriminate between the two mobility groups, the ABC scale was a more efficient discriminator and yielded a wider range of responses.
The present study provided additional psychometric support for the FES. However, the greater item responsiveness of the ABC scale makes it more suitable to detect loss of balancing confidence in more highly functioning seniors. Greater situation-specificity of items may also assist clinicians in targeting appropriate interventions.
本研究对跌倒效能量表（FES）进行了重复验证，并与特定活动平衡信心量表（ABC量表）进行了直接比较，后者旨在涵盖更广泛的活动难度范围和更详细的项目描述。
新开发的16项ABC量表的项目由15名临床医生和12名老年门诊患者生成。心理测量测试涉及60名社区老年人（年龄在65 - 95岁之间），他们根据自己在户外行走时对助行器和个人协助的感知需求，自我分类为行动信心高或低。
发现FES和ABC量表都具有内部一致性，并表现出良好的重测信度、收敛效度和效标效度。量表分析表明，ABC量表的累积量表更强，而FES分数分布存在偏态。虽然两个量表都能够区分两个行动能力组，但ABC量表是更有效的区分工具，并且产生了更广泛的反应范围。
本研究为FES提供了额外的心理测量学支持。然而，ABC量表更高的项目反应性使其更适合检测功能较高的老年人平衡信心的丧失。项目更强的情境特异性也可能有助于临床医生确定合适的干预措施。
