Measuring Fear of Falling and Appraisals of Harm

Fear of falling (FOF) causes premature disability in older adults who limit their physical activities, making FOF an important area for aging research. Measures of falls self-efficacy have been widely used, but less attention has been paid to measuring the construct of fear. We re-assessed an older measure of fear and appraisals of harm to determine the factor structure and potential for a shorter version. Data was collected from 329 older adults from a variety of community setting (mean age 76.3, 84% female, 81% White); 63.8% reported FOF. Factor analysis resulted in four factors with eigenvalues greater than 1.0. Two factors achieved adequate Cronbach’s alpha: appraisals of harm outcomes (0.924) and social stigma (0.815). Further analysis was used to identify a short form, resulting in a 6 item measure of appraisal of harm outcomes (Cronbach’s alpha 0.86). The original and short versions were moderately correlated with falls self-efficacy as measured by the short form, and level of fear of falling using a 10-point rating scale (.327 - .492). Research is needed to further clarify psychological targets to help older adults remain physically active to improve quality of life.