The Stay Independent Brochure as a Screening Evaluation for Fall Risk in an Elderly Thai Population

Sriprapa Loonlawong; Weerawat Limroongreungrat; Wiroj Jiamjarasrangsi

doi:10.2147/CIA.S233414

The Stay Independent Brochure as a Screening Evaluation for Fall Risk in an Elderly Thai Population

Clin Interv Aging. 2019 Dec 12:14:2155-2162. doi: 10.2147/CIA.S233414. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Sriprapa Loonlawong^{1

2}, Weerawat Limroongreungrat³, Wiroj Jiamjarasrangsi¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.
² Regional Health Promotion Center 9 Nakhon Ratchasima, Department of Health, Ministry of Public Health, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand.
³ College of Sports Science and Technology, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand.

Abstract

Introduction: The Stay Independent Brochure (SIB) is a widely used fall-risk self-assessment tool, which is part of the Stopping Elderly Accident, Deaths & Injuries (STEADI) program in the US. However, the validity and reliability of the SIB have not been established in an elderly Thai population.

Objective: To construct a fall risk screening tool based on the SIB in a Thai elderly population and investigate its psychometric effect in a community context.

Methods: A total of 480 elderly participants volunteered to take part in this study from the Nakhon Ratchasima province. In the first part of the study, the original version of the SIB was translated into Thai (total 12 questions) and adapted into a modified version (total 18 questions). The translated SIBs were cross-culturally adapted and tested for content validity, test-retest reliability, inter-rater reliability, construct validity and internal consistency. In the second part of the study, the psychometric properties of the translated SIBs were assessed using test-retest and inter-rater reliability and content and construct validity.

Results: The SIBs had good content validity (IOC: 0.80 to 1.00), and the interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of test-retest and inter-rater reliability was excellent for both SIB versions (ICC 0.89-0.95). The construct validity of 18 questions was tested by principal component factor analysis with varimax rotation and using factor loading greater than 0.4, and yielded 6 factors that explained 59.1% of the variance in fall risk (more than 12 questions). The coefficient alpha was higher than the usually recommended value of 0.70 for the total score of both SIB versions. The convergent validity between the TUG and BBS tests was statistically significant (p<0.001).

Conclusion: Based on psychometric properties, it is recommended that the two Thai versions of the SIB are an appropriate initial screening tool for the multi-steps fall risk assessment algorithm in predicting falls in an elderly Thai community.

Keywords: Stay Independent Brochure; Thai elderly; falls; psychometric property; screening.

MeSH terms

Accidental Falls / prevention & control*
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Female
Geriatric Assessment / methods*
Humans
Independent Living*
Male
Pamphlets*
Psychometrics
Reproducibility of Results
Surveys and Questionnaires
Thailand

Grants and funding

This study was supported by a research grant from Ratchadapiseksompotch Fund, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, fiscal year 2019, grant number RA62/024 and the 90th Anniversary of Chulalongkorn University Fund (Ratchadaphiseksomphot Endowment Fund), grant number GCUGR1125622041D.