Reliability and Internal Consistency of the Activities-Specific Balance Confidence Scale

ABSTRACT

The Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale (ABC) was developed to assess balance confidence. While several researchers have used the ABC to measure balance confidence, its psychometric properties are reported by only a few studies. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ABC's test–retest reliability and internal consistency among a sample of community dwelling older adults. Forty-four subjects aged 65 and older who lived independently in a senior living community participated in the study. Each participant completed the ABC on two separate test days, 6 months apart. Test–retest reliability revealed an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.879 (95% CI, 0.779–0.934). Internal consistency measured by cronbach's α was 0.973 for both baseline and six-month data. The ABC demonstrated good test–retest reliability and strong internal consistency among a sample of community dwelling older adults; however, internal consistency may be exceedingly high, indicating item redundancy.

KEYWORDS. :

• balance confidence
• falls
• older adults
• fear of falling