Abstract
BackgroundFear of falling (FOF) is a very pervasive problem among older adults. Consequently, many scales have been developed for its assessment. The Modified Falls Efficacy Scale (MFES) is one of the most popular FOF scales. The MFES was originally developed for use in developed countries, and thus may not be entirely suitable for use in developing countries due to cultural and environmental differences between the two country categories. This study was therefore designed to cross-culturally adapt and validate the MFES to Igbo culture and environment among community-dwelling older adults in Nnewi community using established guidelines.MethodsThe original English version of the MFES (E-MFES) was translated, synthesized, back-translated, subjected to expert panel review, and pretested before producing the final Igbo version of the MFES (I-MFES). The I-MFES and the Short Falls Efficacy Scale International were randomly administered to consecutively recruited 109 consenting older adult residents of Nnewi (43.1% males; mean age = 74.45 ± 8.78 years). Convergent and structural validities and internal consistency of the I-MFES were assessed at 0.05 level of significance.ResultsAll the 14 items on the E-MFES were retained on the I-MFES. The I-MFES exhibited the same structure as the E-MFES. The correlation between the total scores on the I-MFES and the Short Falls Efficacy Scale International was excellent (rho = − 0.93) indicating evidence of convergent validity of the I-MFES. The Cronbach’s alpha value of the I-MFES was 0.97 showing evidence of excellent internal consistency of the items on the I-MFES.ConclusionThis study provides evidence of some aspects of validity and reliability of the I-MFES.
Highlights
Fear of falling (FOF) is a very pervasive problem among older adults
An FOF prevalence of 81% had been reported in a Nigerian stroke sample [15] suggesting that along with age, the presence of any co-morbidity that is likely to interfere with balance may heighten the likelihood of FOF
All the participants who were involved in the pretesting process reported clarity of language and ease of understanding of all the items during the cognitive debriefing interview
Summary
Fear of falling (FOF) is a very pervasive problem among older adults. Fear of falling (FOF) is a common consequence of falls that can lead to a lot of physical and psychological problems among older adults [16]. It has been associated with limitation and/or reduction in the performance of activities of daily living, mobility, physical capability, mental health, balancing activities and quality of life, and increased institutionalization [1, 9, 10, 17]. FOF is routinely investigated in older adults and several instruments have been developed for its measurement
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