Falls Efficacy Scale International (FES-I) as a predictor of gait and balance abnormalities in community dwelling older people

BackgroundFear of falling (FoF) is common amongst community-dwelling older adults and is associated with higher falls risk. FoF is common amongst those with gait and balance abnormalities (GABAb), yet the ability of FoF measures to predict GABAb has not been assessed. MethodsData were reviewed from attendees of the North Tyneside Community Falls Prevention Service. The Falls Efficacy Scale International (FES-I) was used to measure falls efficacy, with a score larger than 23.5 indicating a concern for falling. Gait and balance measures were assessed, with cut-offs used to indicate poor and non-poor results for timed up and go (TUG) (>14s), five times sit to stand (FTSS) (>15s) and gait speed (GS) (<1 m/s). Receiver operating characteristic curves were generated for sensitivity and specificity analysis. ResultsFES-I score had good to excellent sensitivity when predicting TUG (87.1%), FTSS (82.9%) and GS results (73.0%) indicative of significant GABAb. Moderate specificity was also observed when predicting GS (62%) and FTSS (62.3%); a low to moderate specificity was observed when predicting TUG (50.0%). ConclusionA FES-I score of 23.5 or more showed high specificity in identifying those with prolonged TUG and FTSS and slower GS, with moderate specificity.