Classification of FRPCs

Classification of scales measuring FRPCs in either one the following categories: 1) fear of falling and 2) falls-efficacy or balance confidence, was based on a review by Jorstad, Hauer, Becker and Lamb [18]. Effects sizes were later calculated for each of the two categories.

The first category encompasses scales measuring fear of falling and comprises the following: Mobility Efficacy Scale (MES) [19], adapted Falls Efficacy Scale (aFES) [19], Survey of Activities and Fear of Falling in the Elderly [SAFFE (or SAFE)] [20], and University of Illinois at Chicago Fear of Falling Measure (UIC FFM) [21]. The Falls Efficacy Scale–International (FES-I) [22], was also added to this category, since it was published after Jorstad et al.’s review [18]; this scale measures concerns about falls (although its name suggests that it measures falls-efficacy). In addition to these scales, this category also includes single-item measures, such as “Are you afraid of falling?”, “Are you concerned about falls?”, as proposed by Jorstad et al. [18].

The second category encompasses scales measuring self-efficacy or balance confidence or confidence at avoiding falls. Those scales were grouped based on Jorstad et al.’s findings [18] and a psychometric study by Hotchkiss et al. [23]. This category includes the Falls Efficacy Scale (FES) [24], the Falls Efficacy Scale revised (rFES) [25], the modified FES (mFES) [26], the FES United Kingdom (FES-UK) [27], the Activities-specific Balance Confidence (ABC) [28], the ABC United Kingdom (ABC-UK) [27] and the Confidence in maintaining balance scale (ConFBal) [29].