Marques-Vieira, Cristina Maria AlvesSousa, Luís Manuel Mota deBaixinho, CristinaReis, Maria Gorete Mendonça dosPérez-Rivas, Francisco JavierSousa, Lisete Maria Ribeiro de2022-03-292022-03-292021Marques-Vieira CMA, Sousa LMM, Baixinho CRSL, Reis MGM, Pérez-Rivas FJ, Sousa LMR. Validation of the International 7-item Falls Efficacy Scale in portuguese community-dwelling older adults. Texto Contexto Enferm [Internet]. 2021 [cited YEAR MONTH DAY]; 30:e20190243. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1590/1980-265X-TCE-2019-0243http://hdl.handle.net/10400.8/6868Objective: to determine the psychometric properties of the international 7-item Falls Efficacy Scale. Method: a psychometric study. Convenience sample consisting of 170 older adults living in the Madeira Autonomous Region, Portugal. A two-part instrument was used (sociodemographic characterization and the Falls Efficacy Scale-International-Portugal). The starting point was the translation and transcultural adaptation already carried out for the Falls Efficacy Scale – International (16 items). Construct validity (factorial analysis and discriminant validity) and the reliability (Cronbach’s α) of the 7-item scale were evaluated. Previous authorization was obtained from the Ethics Commission and from the people involved. Results: in the exploratory factorial analysis, the International 7-item Falls Efficacy Scale presents an explained variance of 65.8%. The Spearman’s correlation between the score obtained based on the 7 items and the score obtained based on the 16 items is significant and very strong (r=0.987, p<0.0001). Internal consistency was 0.958. Conclusion: the validity and reliability study of the International 7-item Falls Efficacy Scale revealed that it is an adequate scale for the evaluation of the fear of falling in the community-dwelling older adults.engValidation studiesFearFall-related accidentsRisk factorsOlder adultjournal article10.1590/1980-265x-tce-2019-02430104-0707