Psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the Activities-Specific Balance Confidence (ABC) scale in ambulatory, community-dwelling, elderly people

Figures & data

Table 1 Demographic characteristics of the study sample (n=60)

Characteristic
Age, mean ± SD, range	74.1±6.23, 65–88
Gender, n (%)  Men  Women	26 (43.3%) 34 (56.7%)
Religion, n (%)  Christian  Moslem  Druze	25 (41.7%) 17 (28.3%) 18 (30.0%)
Number of children, mean ± SD, range	5.85±3.08, 0–12
Family status, n (%)  Married  Widowhood  Not married	40 (66.7%) 17 (28.3%) 3 (5.0%)
Height, cm, mean ± SD, range	160.87±10.38, 140–184
Weight, kg, mean ± SD, range	75.78±12.96, 44–106
Body mass index (BMI), kg/cm^2, mean ± SD, range	29.47±5.61, 19.56–44.28
Medical History:  Number of diagnosed diseases, mean ± SD, range  Number of prescribed medications, mean ± SD, range  Number of previous operations, mean ± SD, range	1.65±1.19, 0–4
	3.12±2.6, 0–10
	1.33±1.32, 0–5

Table 2 Results of subjective and objective measures

Late-Life Function and Disability Instrument	Mean ± SD; Range
Function component: total Disability component:	62.03±16.34; 26.33–100
Frequency total	45.37±11.62; 22.64–100
Limitation total	69.96±22.9; 33.64–100
SF-36
Physical component score (SF-36), 0–400	241.78±107.9; 42.5–395
Physical functioning subscale, 0–100	61.87±30.44; 5–100
Performance tests
Time Up and Go test, sec	15.13±7.34; 7.01–41.63
Berg Balance Scale, 0–56	43.52±12.45; 10–56

Note: SF-36=36-Item Short Form Survey.

Table 3 Internal consistency of the Arabic translation of the ABC (A-ABC) scale

Number of items	Corrected item-total correlation	Alpha, if item deleted
1	0.77	0.976
2	0.92	0.974
3	0.83	0.975
4	0.81	0.975
5	0.86	0.975
6	0.90	0.974
7	0.83	0.975
8	0.85	0.975
9	0.85	0.975
10	0.82	0.975
11	0.91	0.974
12	0.92	0.974
13	0.92	0.974
14	0.80	0.976
15	0.89	0.974
16	0.85	0.975

Note: Cronbach’s- α coefficient of ABC-C scale equal to 0.976.

Table 4 Psychometric properties of the Arabic translation of the ABC (A-ABC) scale

Parameter	Mean		Mean difference	Lower 95% CI mean difference	Upper 95% CI mean difference	ICC(2.1)	SEM	SEM%	SRD	SRD%	Cronbach’s alpha
	1st	2nd
A-ABC score	68.65	77.55	1.56	0.08	3.05	0.978	3.48	4.58	9.64	12.68	0.976

Abbreviations: A-ABC, Arabic translation of the ABC scale; ICC, intra-class correlation coefficient; SEM, the standard error of measure; SRD, smallest real difference

Figure 1 Bland–Altman plots for Arabic translation of the Activities SpecificActivities-Specific Balance Confidence scale total score.

Table 5 Mean value for test-retest, 95% confidence interval (95% CI), intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC_2.1), and factor analysis of each question in the Arabic translation of the ABC (A-ABC) scale

Number of item	Mean		95% CI mean difference		ICC (2.1)	Factor analysis
	1st	2nd	Lower	Upper
1	85.17	91.25	0.89	0.97	0.94	0.79
2	70.33	78.50	0.91	0.97	0.95	0.92
3	70.50	75.50	0.75	0.92	0.86	0.83
4	82.83	89.50	0.75	0.92	0.86	0.82
5	54.00	61.25	0.91	0.97	0.95	0.85
6	51.67	63.25	0.91	0.97	0.95	0.89
7	76.50	84.75	0.93	0.98	0.96	0.84
8	84.00	90.25	0.86	0.96	0.92	0.86
9	83.67	91.25	0.80	0.94	0.89	0.86
10	72.17	82.25	0.79	0.93	0.88	0.83
11	63.50	73.25	0.75	0.92	0.86	0.91
12	67.33	77.88	0.84	0.95	0.91	0.92
13	58.17	69.00	0.91	0.97	0.95	0.91
14	71.50	81.50	0.93	0.98	0.96	0.80
15	55.00	63.50	0.86	0.96	0.92	0.88
16	52.00	67.88	0.69	0.90	0.82	0.83

Table 6 Significant results of the pearson analysis (p<0.001)

	LLFDI			SF-36		Performance Tests
	Function Component-Total	Disability Component		PCS	PF	BBS	TUG
		Frequency Total	Limitation Total
ABC Total score	0.83	0.70	0.85	0.68	0.65	0.86	−0.69

Abbreviations: LLFDI, Late-Life Function and Disability Instrument; SF-36, 36-Item Short Form Survey; PCS, Physical Component Score; PF, Physical Functioning Subscale of Physical Component Score; BBS, Berg Balance Scale; TUG, Time Up and Go test.

Table 7 Comparison between the results of A-ABC scale, demographic characteristics, subjective and objective measures between fallers and no fallers (mean (±) standard deviation and p-value)

	Fall status
	Fallers (n=27)	No fallers (n=33)	p-Value
A-ABC score	57.82±27.2	77.5±24.79	0.005
Age, years	74.1±5.4	74.0±6.9	0.91
BMI, kg/cm2	30.5±6.2	28.6±5.1	0.2
Late-Life Function and Disability Instrument
Function component-total Disability component:	56.15±14.51	66.5±16.27	0.01
Frequency total	41.72±8.22	48.56±13.04	0.02
Limitation total	61.65±22.11	77.44±21.57	0.007
SF-36
Physical component score, 0–400	194.44±101.29	280.52±98.44	0.01
Physical functioning subscale, 0–100	49.26±30.5	72.18±26.62	0.03
Performance Tests
Time Up and Go test, sec	16.26±7.6	13.68±0.7.47	0.1
Berg Balance Scale, 0–56	39.07±12.91	47.15±10.95	0.01

Abbreviations: A-ABC, Arabic translation of the ABC Scale; BMI, Body mass index; SF-36, 36-Item Short Form Survey.