Reliability and validity of the Falls Efficacy Scale-International after hip fracture in patients aged ≥65 years

Abstract

The Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I), which is commonly used to measure fear of falling in community-dwelling older persons, can also be used to assess fear of falling in patients after a hip fracture. The reliability and the structural validity of the FES-I for these hip patients are good, whereas the construct validity of the FES-I is not optimal. The FES-I may not capture all aspects of fear of falling and may be more closely related to functional performance than to psychological concepts such as anxiety.