[The Hungarian short version and psychometric properties of the Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale for assessing fall risk].

Authors

Brigitta Ruszin-Perecz, Miklós Pozsgai, Réka Csávás-Selmeci, Alexandra Makai, Pál Görög, Zsolt Győrbíró, Emese Lovadi, Nóra Nusser, József Janszky, Endre Pál, Ágnes Sebők

Published in

Orvosi hetilap. Volume 167. Issue 27. Pages 1068-1078. Jul 05, 2026. Epub Jul 05, 2026.

Abstract

Assessing fall risk is essential for older adults as well as for specific patient populations, including those with neurological or musculoskeletal disorders. The Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale is a widely used instrument for evaluating perceived balance confidence, and its Hungarian version has already been validated. However, administering the original 16-item scale can be time-consuming.
The aim of this study was to develop and validate the 6-item short version of the Hungarian Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale among individuals with neurological and musculoskeletal conditions.
Our investigation was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, 167 participants completed the full 16-item version of the Hungarian Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale, data for the 6 selected items were extracted and analyzed. Convergent validity was tested against the Berg Balance Scale here. In the second phase, 63 participants completed the 6-item Hungarian short version of the scale along with other patient-reported surveys. Data on falls in the previous year and perceived pain levels were also collected. Internal consistency was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega, while test-retest reliability was assessed via the intraclass correlation coefficient. We also calculated floor and ceiling effects and minimal detectable change. Convergent validity was evaluated using the Hungarian version of the Falls Efficacy Scale - International. Discriminative validity was examined comparing the scores of patients with or without falls. The effect of perceived pain on scale results was also evaluated.
The 6-item Hungarian short version of the Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale demonstrated high reliability with no floor or ceiling effect. Strong to moderate correlations were found with the physical test and the Falls Efficacy Scale - International. The scale effectively discriminated between individuals with and without a history of falls. Perceived pain did not significantly influence the scores. The average completion time was under 4 minutes.
The 6-item Hungarian version of the Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale is a brief, reliable, and valid instrument for assessing balance confidence in patients with neurological and musculoskeletal conditions. Due to its sensitivity and short completion time, it is highly suitable for both clinical practice and research. Orv Hetil. 2026; 167(27): 1068-1078.

PMID:
42402136
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 05 Jul 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.