Process / pipelinebalance-confidence-self-efficacy
Activities-Specific Balance Confidence Scale
The Activities-Specific Balance Confidence (ABC) Scale is a self-report questionnaire developed by Powell and Myers in 1995 to measure an older adult's confidence in maintaining balance while performing 16 common daily activities. Unlike performance-based balance tests, the ABC Scale captures self-efficacy—the person's subjective belief in their ability to perform activities without losing balance or falling. It is widely used in clinical practice, rehabilitation, and research to identify individuals at high fall risk due to low balance confidence and to measure outcomes of interventions designed to restore confidence and activity participation.
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Sources
- Powell, L. E., & Myers, A. M. (1995). The Activities-Specific Balance Confidence (ABC) Scale. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci, 50A(1), M28-M34. DOI: 10.1093/gerona/50A.1.M28 ↗
- Lajoie, Y., & Gallagher, S. P. (2004). Predicting falls within the elderly community: comparison of postural sway, reaction time, the Berg balance scale and the Activities-Specific Balance Confidence (ABC) in determining fall risk. Arch Phys Med Rehabil, 85(7), 1100-1105. DOI: 10.1016/j.apmr.2003.12.031 ↗
- Huang, S. L., Hsieh, C. L., Wu, R. M., Tai, C. H., Lin, C. H., & Lu, W. S. (2011). Minimal detectable change of the timed up and go test and the dynamic gait index in people with Parkinson disease. Phys Ther, 91(1), 114-121. DOI: 10.2522/ptj.20100062 ↗