The Chinese Short Version of the Activities-Specific Balance Confidence Scale: Its Validity, Reliability, and Predictive Value for Future Falls in Community-Dwelling Older Adults

PURPOSE: To examine the reliability and validity of the Chinese short version of the Activities-specific Balance Confidence scale (ABC-6), and its predictive value for prospective falls in community-dwelling older adults. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 391 community older adults completed the prospective study. Internal consistency reliability, test-retest reliability, structural validity and discriminant validity were analyzed. To determine the accuracy of ABC-6 total score in predicting falls, a receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was performed, and comparisons with the Activities-specific Balance Confidence scale (ABC-16) and Berg Balance Scale (BBS) were made. RESULTS: Excellent internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.938) and test-retest reliability (ICC=0.964, 95% CI: 0.947–0.977) were found for the ABC-6. Exploratory factor analysis suggested that ABC-6 had a one-factor structure (explained variance, 68.30%). The optimal cutoff value, sensitivity and specificity of ABC-6 to distinguish fallers from non-fallers was ≤ 60.00%, 70.83% and 84.26%, respectively, and there was no significant difference in the predictive value among the ABC-6, ABC-16, and BBS. CONCLUSION: The Chinese version of the ABC-6 scale was a valid and reliable tool for measuring self-perceived balance confidence in community-dwelling older adults, and can be used as an effective assessment tool to predict future falls.