Brief Fear of Movement Scale for osteoarthritis

Area of Science:

• Rheumatology
• Psychometrics
• Clinical Assessment

Background:

• Fear of movement significantly impacts individuals with osteoarthritis (OA).
• Existing scales may be lengthy or less tailored for OA populations.
• A brief, validated measure is needed for clinical settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a brief scale for assessing fear of movement in osteoarthritis (OA).
• To adapt items from the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK) for this purpose.

Main Methods:

• Utilized exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses on a community-based sample (n=1,136) of hip or knee OA patients.
• Assessed factorial invariance across sex, race, education, and OA severity.
• Examined convergent validity with pain, physical, and psychological functioning measures.

Main Results:

• Identified a reliable 6-item, single-factor scale measuring activity avoidance related to pain-fear.
• Demonstrated strong psychometric properties with excellent model fit indices.
• Confirmed factorial invariance and convergent validity with key health indicators.

Conclusions:

• The Brief Fear of Movement Scale is a promising, valid tool for assessing fear of movement in OA.
• Its brevity, sound psychometrics, and consistent performance across diverse groups are key strengths.
• This scale can enhance clinical assessment and management of OA patients experiencing fear of movement.