Psychometric properties of the short version of the Activities-specific Balance Confidence (ABC-6) scale for the Brazilian community-dwelling elderly people
Reproducibility of results, elderly, postural balance.
Introduction: Postural imbalance is one of the main causes of falls among the older population, which may lead from slight functional limitation to death. Therefore, it is necessary to validate an effective assessment tool to evaluate postural balance in the care of the geriatric population. One of the instruments used to evaluate postural balance is the short version of the Activities-specific Balance Confidence scale (ABC-6), which was developed to evaluate the self-efficacy of confidence in balance among the older people. However, the psychometric properties of this scale need to be evaluated to be used in the elderly population in the Brazilian social and cultural contexts
Objective: To evaluate the psychometric properties of the ABC-6 scale.
Methods: This is a methodologic study to evaluate the psychometric properties of the ABC-6 scale. The sample is currently being composed by the community-dwelling elderly people who meet the inclusion criteria of this study. The ABC-6 scale is being applied in two moments by two distinct evaluators chosen randomly at the first evaluation day in order to assess interobserver reliability. One week later, a third ABC-6 scale’s score’s records is being done to assess intraobserver reliability. The clinical evaluation of the postural balance is being realized by the modified Clinical Test of Sensory Interaction and Balance (mCTSIB), which is measured in seconds under 4 conditions (1: firm surface and eyed open; 2: firm surface and eyes closed; 3: foam surface and eyes open; and 4: foam surface and eyes closed), the Unilateral Stance (US) test in seconds with both eyes open and closed, and the Berg Balance Scale (BBS). This assessment will be used to determine potential correlates with the ABC-6 scale. Moreover, the potential correlates of the confidence in balance measured by the ABC-6 scale and the fear of falling reported through the Falls Efficacy Scale – International (FES-I) will be assessed. The 20.0 version of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) will be used to perform the statistical analysis.
Preliminary results: Up to date, the sample is composed by thirty-four elderly people with mean age of 72.1 (±5.2) years and is mostly composed by women (82.4%). Regarding the physical activity practice, 59.9% of the sample report being sedentary. The mean scores of the three confidence in balance evaluations through the ABC-6 scale is 57.0 (±29.7), 59.2 (±29.4) e 55.3 (±29.4), respectively. Most of the elderly report fear of falling (79.4%) and the mean score of the FES-I is 30.1 (±9.8). Regarding the postural balance assessment, the mean score of the mCTSIB is: 29.2 (±2.7) seconds to condition 2; 28.7 (±5.0) to condition 3; and 16.8 (±12.1) to condition 5. The condition 1 remains a constant (30 seconds to all participants). In the US test, it is possible to find means of 9.3 (±10.9) seconds with eyes open and 1.9 (±3.6) with eyes closed. A mean total score of 49.6 (±5.3) in the BBS scale is also observed.