A Review of the Role of the Shortened Activities-Specific Balance Confidence Questionnaire in Predicting the Risk of Falling in the Elderly

Balance impairment and dizziness are among the most common disorders among the elderly. Losing confidence in maintaining balance can sometimes be even more debilitating than actually falling down. Considering the global increase in the elderly population, it seems important to focus on their specific needs including balance and the question whether it is possible to predict the risk of falling.
The ABC questionnaire is a valid and useful tool for evaluating balance confidence and fear of falling among the elderly. Recently, the questionnaire has been standardized and culturally adapted for use in Iran. Although this 16-item questionnaire has acceptable validity and reliability, completing it for clinical and research purposes among the elderly is time-consuming. Therefore, a shorter version consisting of six items was designed, which is useful for assessing fear of falling in different groups. Objective assessment of the short version showed that it is as reliable as the long version, as reported previously. Although some studies have used the short version, which has been shown to have a high correlation with the original version meaning that it can replace the latter. However, it is necessary to assess the validity and reliability of the short version (ABC-6) in different elderly populations.