The first phase of the study aims to study the incidence of near-falls. The second phase will be to develop a scale which operationalize balance recovery confidence in the older adults. This study will determine the incidence of near-falls in a sample of community-dwelling older adults and will develop the Balance Recovery Falls-Efficacy scale (BRFES) for the community-dwelling older adults using the COSMIN method. This scale will be used to measure the confidence level of the community-dwelling older adults in their ability to execute balance recovery maneuvers in common, everyday functional activities to prevent a fall.
This study will progress through two phases The first phase will recruit 30 older adults from ages of 65 and older living in the community. A study administrator will contact the participants daily over a 21-day period to obtain frequency and type of event experienced e.g. no fall, fall, near fall (hand), near-fall (leg) or near-fall (other). No other details of the event will be ascertained because this preliminary study will be to determine the incidence of near-falls in a sample of community-dwelling seniors. The second phase will be to develop a scale which operationalize balance recovery confidence in community-dwelling older adults. In the first stage of the study, twelve older adults will be recruited to develop a comprehensive list of relevant items for the scale. Purposive sampling will be used to invite participants from the earlier study. This approach will ensure sample representativeness of the population and to include participants who have had demonstrated an understanding of near-falls and balance recovery maneuvres in the previous study to develop the scale. An exhaustive list of scale items will be generated from two focus group formed by six participants using a nominal group technique. This consensus-based technique ensures that all items in the scale are relevant and comprehensible to the community-dwelling older adults to discriminate the confidence level in one's ability to perform balance recovery maneuvres. The scale will then be sent to a panel of 50 experts including healthcare professionals as well as a new group of community-dwelling older adults to determine the appropriateness of items ensuring that the scale is relevant, comprehensive and comprehensible. Delphi technique will be adopted as the method to obtain a consensus among experts to finalize the Balance Recovery Falls-Efficacy Scale (BRFES).
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
80
The finalized list of items will be discussed by two researchers who will combine similar items generated by the two focus groups to complete the Balance Recovery Falls-Efficacy Scale. The list of items has been developed by a group of community-dwelling older adults who had demonstrated an understanding of near-falls and will be able to articulate the use of balance recovery strategies used in near-fall experiences.
Singapore Institute of Technology
Singapore, Singapore
Incidence of near-falls
To determine the incidence of near-falls
Time frame: 6 months
Development of the Balance Recovery Falls-Efficacy Scale (BRFES)
To develop and validate the Balance Recovery Falls-Efficacy Scale (BRFES). The construct measured is the confidence in one's ability to execute balance recovery manoeuvres in common, everyday functional activities to prevent a fall. The scale response option ranged from 1 to 10 with a higher score reflecting higher confidence. The scale would have 16 items indicating a total score range of 16 to 160. A higher total score value represent a better outcome.
Time frame: 9 months
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