Development and validation of the fall risk perception questionnaire for patients in acute care hospitals

Aims and objectives This study aimed to develop a fall risk perception questionnaire for patients admitted to acute care hospitals and to establish its reliability and validity. Background To prevent falls during patients' hospitalisation, it is essential for them to accurately perceive their risk of falling. Design This methodological study was performed to develop a fall risk perception questionnaire. Methods After generating a preliminary questionnaire, two rounds of content validity testing were performed with nine experts. Following a pilot test, a convenience sample of 236 participants was recruited from an acute care hospital between 2 May 2018 and 15 December 2019. Construct, convergent and known-group validity of the questionnaire was evaluated, and reliability was estimated by calculating the internal consistency reliability coefficients. The study adhered to STROBE guidelines. Results Exploratory factor analysis yielded a three-factor solution with 27 items. The questionnaire showed statistically significant positive correlation with the Korean Falls Efficacy Scale-International and the Morse Fall Scale, thus establishing convergent validity. For known-group comparison, Morse Fall Scale scores were categorised into two groups by cut-off score. The risk for falls group had a significantly higher perceived fall risk than the no risk for falls group, thus establishing known-group validity. Cronbach's alpha values indicated good to excellent reliability for the overall questionnaire with 27 items and for each of the three subfactors. Conclusions The fall risk perception questionnaire demonstrated satisfactory reliability and validity in an acute care hospital setting. Relevance to clinical practice Because understanding patients' perceptions of their fall risk is essential for preventing falls, it is necessary to regularly assess patients' fall risk perception using tools with established reliability and validity.