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CC BY 4.0 · Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2026; 84(01): s00451815738
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1815738
Original Article

Brazilian version of the Fear of Falls Scale: translation, cross-cultural adaptation and validation

Authors

  • Carla Marineli Saraiva do Amaral 

    1   Universidade Federal do Ceará, Faculdade de Medicina, Departamento de Medicina Clínica, Fortaleza CE, Brazil.

  • André Borges Ferreira Gomes 

    2   Hospital Geral de Fortaleza, Serviço de Neurologia, Fortaleza CE, Brazil.

  • Rafael Barbosa Mokdeci Surerus 

    3   Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Faculdade de Medicina, Departamento de Clínica Médica, Juiz de Fora MG, Brazil.

  • Pedro Pigozzo Senra Lacerda 

    3   Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Faculdade de Medicina, Departamento de Clínica Médica, Juiz de Fora MG, Brazil.

  • Vanessa Fernandes de Oliveira 

    1   Universidade Federal do Ceará, Faculdade de Medicina, Departamento de Medicina Clínica, Fortaleza CE, Brazil.

  • Stephanie Suzanne de Oliveira Scott 

    1   Universidade Federal do Ceará, Faculdade de Medicina, Departamento de Medicina Clínica, Fortaleza CE, Brazil.

  • Samuel Brito de Almeida 

    1   Universidade Federal do Ceará, Faculdade de Medicina, Departamento de Medicina Clínica, Fortaleza CE, Brazil.

  • Walberto Silva dos Santos 

    4   Universidade Federal do Ceará, Centro de Ciências Humanas, Departamento de Psicologia, Fortaleza CE, Brazil.

  • Thiago Cardoso Vale 

    3   Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Faculdade de Medicina, Departamento de Clínica Médica, Juiz de Fora MG, Brazil.

  • Fernanda Martins Maia Carvalho 

    4   Universidade Federal do Ceará, Centro de Ciências Humanas, Departamento de Psicologia, Fortaleza CE, Brazil.

  • Pedro Braga-Neto 

    1   Universidade Federal do Ceará, Faculdade de Medicina, Departamento de Medicina Clínica, Fortaleza CE, Brazil.

Funding The author Pedro Braga Neto has received speaker fees from Biogen and Teva. The remaining authors declare that they did not receive funding from agencies in the public, private or non-profit sectors to conduct the present study.
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Abstract

Background

Fear of falling can be present in the daily lives of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) due to their predisposition to falls.

Objective

The main objective of this study was to translate the Fear of Falls Scale (FFS) into Brazilian Portuguese, adapt it cross-culturally, and validate it.

Methods

A multicenter, cross-sectional study was conducted with PD patients fluent in Brazilian Portuguese, recruited from five research centers in Brazil. Descriptive analysis characterized the sample and compared the data. Cronbach's α and McDonald's ω coefficients were used to assess the internal consistency of the scale.

Results

No significant differences were observed between the translated versions T1 and T2. The B1 and B2 versions did not present significant divergences in the back-translation from the original scale. The Movement Disorder Society – Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) part III significantly correlated with motor skills (rho = 0.56, 0.43–0.67; p ≤ 0.001) and fear of falling (rho = 0.48, 0.34–0.60; p ≤ 0.001). Higher stages on the modified Hoehn & Yahr scale were associated with a greater decline in motor skills and a greater fear of falling (p < 0.001). The total internal consistency of balance-related motor skills and fear of falling was considered sufficiently reliable. Cronbach's α values were 0.96, 0.91, and 0.90; while McDonald's ω values were 0.96, 0.92, and 0.91, respectively.

Conclusion

The Brazilian version of the FFS proved to be valid and reliable for assessing fear of falling in people with PD.

Keywords

Accidental Falls - Postural Balance - Parkinson disease

Authors' Contributions

Conceptualization: CMSA, PBN; Data curation: CMSA, RBMS, PPSL, PBN; Formal analysis: CMSA, VFO, SSOS, SBA, WSS, TCV, FMMC, PBN; Investigation: CMSA, ABFG, RBMS, PPSL, TCV, FMMC, PBN; Methodology: CMSA, VFO, SSOS, SBA, WSS, TCV, FMMC, PBN; Project administration: CMSA, TCV, FMMC, PBN; Supervision: CMSA, TCV, FMMC, PBN; Validation: CMSA, TCV, FMMC, PBN; Visualization: CMSA, TCV, FMMC, PBN; Writing - original draft: CMSA, ABFG, RBMS, PPSL, VFO, WSS, PBN; Writing - review & editing: CMSA, SSOS, WSS, TCV, FMMC, PBN.


Data Availability Statement

Data will be available upon request to the corresponding author.


Editor-in-Chief: Hélio A. G. Teive (ORCID: 0000-0003-2305-1073).


Associate Editor: Orlando G. P. Barsottini (ORCID: 0000-0002-0107-0831).




Publication History

Received: 04 August 2025

Accepted: 21 October 2025

Article published online:
04 February 2026

© 2026. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Thieme Revinter Publicações Ltda.
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Bibliographical Record
Carla Marineli Saraiva do Amaral, André Borges Ferreira Gomes, Rafael Barbosa Mokdeci Surerus, Pedro Pigozzo Senra Lacerda, Vanessa Fernandes de Oliveira, Stephanie Suzanne de Oliveira Scott, Samuel Brito de Almeida, Walberto Silva dos Santos, Thiago Cardoso Vale, Fernanda Martins Maia Carvalho, Pedro Braga-Neto. Brazilian version of the Fear of Falls Scale: translation, cross-cultural adaptation and validation. Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2026; 84: s00451815738.
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1815738
 

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