NEAR-FALL DOMAIN
Balance Recovery Confidence Scale
The Balance Recovery Confidence (BRC) Scale measures an individual’s confidence in recovering balance following a destabilising event such as a slip, trip or loss of balance.
It focuses specifically on perceived reactive balance recovery and is conceptually distinct from confidence in maintaining balance and from fear or concern about falling.
THE CONSTRUCT
What Is Balance Recovery Confidence?
Balance recovery confidence refers to an individual’s perceived capability to regain stability and arrest a fall after balance has already been disturbed.
This corresponds to the near-fall stage of the falls-efficacy framework. The person is no longer simply trying to remain steady. Instead, a destabilising event has occurred and a reactive response is required to prevent the fall from progressing.
PRE-FALL
Balance confidence
Confidence in maintaining balance while undertaking activities.
NEAR-FALL
Balance recovery confidence
Confidence in recovering balance following a slip, trip or other destabilising event.
Assessed by the BRCRELATED CONSTRUCT
Fear or concern about falling
Emotional or cognitive concern about the possibility or consequences of falling.
WHY IT MATTERS
Why Assess Balance Recovery Confidence?
Traditional balance-confidence measures largely ask whether a person believes they can remain steady during activities. Balance recovery confidence addresses a different question: what does the person believe they can do once stability has already been lost?
Reactive rather than steady-state
The BRC focuses on perceived capability to respond to destabilising perturbations rather than simply maintain balance.
Person-reported perspective
It provides insight into how individuals judge their own balance-recovery capability.
Complementary information
BRC can be considered alongside measures of physical balance, balance confidence and concern about falling.
AVAILABLE VERSIONS
BRC-19 and Short-Form BRC
Two English versions are currently available: the original 19-item BRC and the 7-item Short-Form Balance Recovery Confidence Scale.
ORIGINAL SCALE
BRC-19
Comprehensive assessment of balance recovery confidence across different everyday perturbation scenarios.
- Items
- 19
- Response
- 0–10
- Construct
- Balance recovery confidence
- Original population
- Community-dwelling older adults
SHORT FORM · 2026
SF-BRC
A 7-item short form developed to improve measurement efficiency while retaining coverage of balance-recovery confidence.
- Items
- 7
- Response
- 0–10
- Construct
- Balance recovery confidence
- Development sample
- 309 older adults
PRACTICAL USE
Administration and Scoring
Respondents should judge their current ability to recover balance if the situation described in an item were to occur. The focus is their perceived reactive capability, not how they might avoid the situation.
Cannot do at all
Represents the lowest level of certainty in being able to recover balance.
Moderately can do
Represents an intermediate degree of certainty.
Highly certain can do
Represents the highest level of confidence in being able to recover balance.
BRC-19 SCORE
Calculate the mean item score
Sum the responses across the 19 items and divide by 19. The resulting BRC score ranges from 0 to 10.
Important when administering the BRC
If a respondent says that they would avoid the situation, become more careful or hold onto a support, redirect them to the intended question: how confident are they that they could recover their balance if the loss of balance actually occurred?
Respondents who normally use a walking aid should consider the scenario in the context of their usual use of that aid.
DEVELOPMENT
How the BRC Was Developed
Development combined input from older adults, clinical and research experts, and psychometric evaluation using both Classical Test Theory and Rasch Measurement Theory.
Item generation
Candidate content was generated with 12 community-dwelling adults aged 65 years and older using a nominal group technique.
Content validation
The scale name, instructions, response options, recall period and items were reviewed by 28 healthcare professionals and 10 older adults using an e-Delphi process.
Psychometric evaluation
The resulting scale was evaluated in 84 older adults using self-reported and performance measures, factor analysis, Classical Test Theory and Rasch Measurement Theory.
MEASUREMENT EVIDENCE
Psychometric Properties
Published studies provide evidence supporting the measurement properties of both the original BRC and the more recent short-form version.
BRC-19
Unidimensional structure
The original development study supported interpretation of the 19 items as a unidimensional measure of balance recovery confidence.
BRC-19
Reliability
The original study reported high internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.975) and test-retest reliability (ICC3,1 = 0.944).
SF-BRC
7-item short form
Initial validation supported a unidimensional structure, with Cronbach’s α = 0.94 and Rasch person-separation reliability of 0.93.
SF-BRC
Relationship with BRC-19
The SF-BRC showed a strong relationship with the original BRC in its development dataset (r = 0.99).
Measurement properties should be considered in relation to the population and context in which each study was conducted. Evidence from one population should not automatically be assumed to apply to all clinical groups.
GLOBAL USE
Translations and Cross-cultural Validation
The BRC research programme includes validated translations and ongoing cross-cultural adaptation projects across different countries and languages.
Translation and cross-cultural adaptation should be distinguished from completed psychometric validation. Versions listed as “in progress” should therefore not yet be considered validated instruments.
English
Developer: Shawn Soh
Original English BRC-19 and validated 7-item Short-Form Balance Recovery Confidence Scale (SF-BRC).
Thai
Translation lead: Rumpa Boonsinsukh
The Thai BRC has undergone cross-cultural validation, including evaluation in persons with stroke.
Turkish
Translation lead: Abdulkadir DAĞBAŞI
The Turkish BRC has undergone cultural adaptation and psychometric validation in older adults.
View translation projects in progress
Lead: Yalda Beygi Hong Kong Chinese
Lead: Annie Wu UK English Adaptation
Lead: Yazeed Qashwa Dutch (Belgium)
Lead: Zuhal Abasiyanik Dutch (Flemish)
Lead: Zuhal Abasiyanik Spanish
Lead: Zuhal Abasiyanik Italian
Lead: Zuhal Abasiyanik Hindi
Leads: Shefali Walia, Garima Wadhwa Arabic (Oman)
Lead: Idris Al Blaushi Estonian
Lead: Gleb Slyusarchuk Russian
Lead: Gleb Slyusarchuk Filipino
Lead: Donald Lipardo Chinese (China) · SF-BRC
Lead: He Xuan
TRANSLATION COLLABORATION
Interested in translating or validating the BRC?
Please contact the BRC research team before commencing a new translation or cross-cultural adaptation. This helps identify existing projects, minimise duplication and support consistency across international BRC versions.
ACCESS
Access the BRC
The BRC is available for use by researchers and clinicians, provided that the scale and its developers are appropriately referenced.
ORIGINAL VERSION
BRC-19
The complete 19-item Balance Recovery Confidence Scale and its original development publication.
SHORT FORM
SF-BRC
The 7-item Short-Form Balance Recovery Confidence Scale and its development and initial validation publication.
OTHER LANGUAGES
Translated Versions
Browse validated and developing versions of the BRC across different languages.
CITATION
How to Cite the BRC
ORIGINAL BRC
Soh, S. L. H., Tan, C. W., Xu, T., Yeh, T. T., Abdul Rahman, F., Soon, B., Gleeson, N., & Lane, J. (2024). The Balance Recovery Confidence (BRC) Scale. Physiotherapy Theory and Practice, 40(3), 658–669.
View publication →The article was first published online in October 2022 and subsequently appeared in Volume 40, Issue 3 in 2024.
SHORT-FORM BRC
Soh, S. L. H., Ang, C. W., Chan, C. Z. Y., Goh, R. X. L., Kuoh, J. J., Lim, Z. Y., Ting, H. X. T., Ho, J., Boonsinsukh, R., & Sattelmayer, K. M. (2026). Development of a short-form balance recovery confidence (SF-BRC) scale. Journal of Clinical and Translational Science, 10, e61.
View publication →RESEARCH
Selected BRC Publications
Research continues to evaluate the BRC across populations, settings and languages.
DEVELOPMENT
The Balance Recovery Confidence (BRC) Scale
Soh et al.
SHORT FORM
Development of a short-form balance recovery confidence (SF-BRC) scale
Soh et al., 2026
CROSS-CULTURAL VALIDATION
Cultural adaptation and psychometric validation of the Balance Recovery Confidence Scale in older Turkish adults
CLINICAL VALIDATION
Reliability and validity of the Balance Recovery Confidence Scale in persons with stroke
Collaborate on Balance Recovery Confidence Research
We welcome collaboration involving translation, cross-cultural validation, clinical application and further investigation of balance recovery confidence.