Abstract
BackgroundOlder adults with type 2 diabetes (DM2) are at increased risk of falling due to complications including: diabetic peripheral neuropathy, diabetic retinopathy, autonomic neuropathy and diabetic foot ulcers. The purpose of this study was to determine the test-retest reliability, internal consistency, construct validity and to perform factor analysis of a new falls Risk Perception Questionnaire (RPQ) in older community-dwelling adults with DM2.MethodsA prospective cohort of 30 community-dwelling older adults, ≥ 55 years, with DM2 was assembled. At baseline, perceived risk of falling, fear of falling and physical activity were measured. At time 2 (T2), at least 2 days later, perceived risk of falling was assessed again to determine the test-retest reliability of the RPQ. At time 3 (T3), approximately six weeks later, and time 4 (T4), at least 2 days after T3, perceived risk of falling was assessed by phone to determine the test-retest reliability of the RPQ when administered by phone.ResultsThe RPQ demonstrated excellent test-retest reliability when delivered in person (ICC = 0.78, 95% Confidence Interval, CI: 0.59–0.89) and by phone (ICC = 0.82, 95% CI: 0.65–0.91), good internal consistency (α = 0.78) and adequate construct validity (r = 0.52, 95% CI: 0.20–0.74, p = 0.003) in older adults with DM2.ConclusionGiven the good psychometric properties in this sample of persons with Diabetes, the RPQ has the potential to be used in clinical practice as a risk assessment and fall prevention tool. However, further testing needs to be done using a larger sample.
Highlights
Older adults with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (DM2) are at increased risk of falling due to complications including: diabetic peripheral neuropathy, diabetic retinopathy, autonomic neuropathy and diabetic foot ulcers [1]
A study of older adults with diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) (n = 30) revealed that individuals with DPN had reduced walking speed, step length and cadence as well as impaired balance, peripheral sensation and reaction time compared to age
The current study addressed the following research questions in older adults with DM2: 1) What is the testretest reliability of the Risk Perception Questionnaire (RPQ) as measured by an Intraclass Correlation Coefficient? 2) What is the internal consistency of items on the RPQ as measured by Cronbach’s alpha? 3) What is the construct validity of the RPQ as measured by its correlation with the Fall Efficacy Scale-International? 4) What is the factor structure of the RPQ determined by exploratory factor analysis
Summary
Older adults with type 2 diabetes (DM2) are at increased risk of falling due to complications including: diabetic peripheral neuropathy, diabetic retinopathy, autonomic neuropathy and diabetic foot ulcers. Risk perception research has focused on people’s perceptions of environmental, technological and nuclear risks [6,7,8,9,10,11] It has played only a small role in health care research [12,13,14]. Individuals from the fall prevention program were more likely to rate fall prevention as a high or very high priority compared to individuals from the comparison group (χ2 = 11.4, p < 0.01) [16]. These findings suggest that increasing individuals’ awareness about their risk of falling may result in greater engagement in fall prevention behaviors
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