Investigation of Validity and Reliability of Persian Translation of Modified Gait Efficacy Scale in Older Adults in Qom City (Iran)

Falling is one of the important concerns of older adults and is associated with a series of constraints, such as decline in social activities, general physical weakness, physical activities avoidance, and decrease in quality of life. Assessment of falling-related factors, such as gait efficacy, is important. In this research, validity and reliability of Persian translation of "Modified Gait Efficacy Scale", was investigated in older adults.
This descriptive study was performed in older adults in Qom city. Data were collected using Modified Gait Efficacy Scale, Falls Efficacy Scale-International, and Activities-Specific Balance Confidence. Subjects were selected from urban areas of Qom city by available sampling. Data were analyzed using factor analysis with principal component and Varimax rotation, Pearson correlation coefficient, and independence student t-test.
In this study, the mean age of the subjects was 70.8 years. The results of confirmatory factor analysis led to extraction of one factor with eigenvalue greater than 1, named "Gait Efficacy", which explained 85.52% of total variance. Excellent correlation between the mean score of this scale with Fall Efficacy Scale-International (-0.93), and Balance Confidence (0.95), was confirmed the convergent validity of the scale (p≤0.001). Differential validity and the reliability, were confirmed by three methods, including test-retest (0.96), intraclass correlation (0.96), and internal consistency (0.97).
Persian translation of “Modified Gait Efficacy Scale” is a valid and reliable measure and can be used for research and educational purposes. Therefore, assessment of some other psychometric properties of this scale, is suggested for next studies.