Risk Assessment Scale of the Risk of Falls (EARQUE) in elderly living in the community

• Grant number: 15/03003-6
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: November 01, 2015
• End date: April 30, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Collective Health - Public Health
• Principal Investigator: Altacílio Aparecido Nunes
• Grantee: Altacílio Aparecido Nunes
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto (FMRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Edson Zangiacomi Martinez ; Lucélia Terra Jonas

Abstract

The aging of the population raises the discussion of disabling events, including the occurrence of falls in the home, which may compromise the health and quality of life of the elderly. This study aims to validate the Risk Assessment Scale of the Risk of Falls (EARQUE) in elderly people living in the community. This is a simple and small scale without redundancy that covers most of the risk factors for falls, however, without involving tests that do require longer application times, but easy operation, low cost and with objective and subjective questions. Will be a quantitative approach study, the methodological type and employ the procedures of Psychometrics. The method of construction and validation of an instrument is consists of three procedures, theoretical, empirical and analytical. Given that part of theoretical procedures was already held in a previous study, we emphasize that this study will involve the theoretical analysis (last part of the theoretical procedures), empirical and analytical procedures, which aim to validate this scale. It is expected that EARQUE can be converted into useful tool for application in clinical practice and, similarly, in the search. Thus, it is considered that such scale may launch some clues for the design of preventive interventions to reduce the risk of falls and prevent itself from falling in the elderly. Therefore, this work is an important step in the investigation of the conditions of risk for falls in the elderly. (AU)