Determining validity and reliability of the Persian version of activities-specific balance confidence scale for elderly

Due to the phenomenon of aging and the inevitable problems that will occur in the process, a convenient tool for assessing the balance confidence of the daily activities is required. Therefore the purpose of this study was to determine the validity and reliability of the activities-specific balance confidence scale for elderly Persians.

In this study 170 women and men (woman: 75 and man: 95) were selected by cluster random sampling to complete the Persian version of the Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale for the elderly. The Cronbach alpha coefficient was used to determine the internal consistency while intra-class correlation coefficient under test-retest method was utilized to assess temporal reliability.

Confirmatory factor analysis based on structural equations was used for validation of the structure of the questionnaire. The results showed that the activities-specific balance confidence scale for elderly Persians had an acceptable fit index (RMSEA = 0.08, CFI = 0.99, TLI = 0.99), internal consistency (0.92) and temporal reliability (0.83), indicating good validity and reliability of the Persian version of the activities-specific balance confidence scale for elderly Persians.

Balance confidence scale for elderly Persians has acceptable validity and reliability among Iranian adults and can be potentially used as a valid and reliable instrument by researchers