BACKGROUND: Falls deteriorate the quality of life of the elderly and the fear of falling has been shown to be an independent risk factor for frailty, so having tools for its evaluation is a priority. The short FES-I scale, short version (7 items) of the FES-I scale (16 items), assesses fear of falling. The objective of this study is to validate the short FES-I scale in the Spanish population over 70 years and to analyze the relationship between fear of falling, risk of falls and frailty.
METHODS: Cross-sectional observational study.
METHODS: 227 subjects (50.7% male; mean age 75.8 years).
METHODS: northern Spain.
METHODS: sociodemographic, clinical, short physical performance battery (SPPB) and timed up and go test (TUG) execution tests, FES-I and short FES-I. Analysis of psychometric properties: validity and reliability.
RESULTS: The short FES-I scale shows excellent internal consistency (Cronbach\'s alpha = 0.90, intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.89) and test-retest reliability (rho Spearman = 0.76). It has a high concomitant criterion validity analyzed by its correlation with FES-I (rho Spearman = 0.90). The discriminant construct validity has been confirmed for both SPPB and TUG. Short FES-I presents good capacity for frailty classification (defined by SPPB) with AUC = 0.715. As a cut-off point, a short FES-I value > 8 is proposed for moderate/high fear of falling.
CONCLUSIONS: The short FES-I scale is a good instrument to study fear of falling in the Spanish population over 70 years and is valid for clinical and research use.

BACKGROUND: The UD Interference Test measures processing speed and attention, and is based on the concept of interference of the Stroop Color and Word Test. The main purpose of the study is to provide an alternative version of the Stroop Color and Word Test that overcomes some of the limitations of previous versions in assessing individuals with daltonism or age-related reading difficulties, and to obtain normative and standardised data for the Spanish population.
METHODS: This study is part of the Normacog project. We evaluated 905 individuals (age range, 18-93 years) to analyse the test\'s reliability and concurrent and construct validity. We evaluated the effect of age, sex, and level of education on UD Interference Test performance and calculated percentiles and age- and education-adjusted scaled scores.
RESULTS: The test has good reliability (α = 0.875) and concurrent (r = 0.443-0.725; P < .001) and construct validity (r = 0.472-0.737; P < .001). We observed age and educational level to have a significant effect on UD Interference Test scores, explaining 12% to 40% of variance. Sex only had a significant effect on the resistance to interference index.
CONCLUSIONS: We present an alternative version of the Stroop Color and Word Test with some advantages over previous versions. We provide standardised and normalised data for the Spanish population to correct the test according to the subject\'s age and level of education.

BACKGROUND: The UD Interference Test measures processing speed and attention, and is based on the concept of interference of the Stroop Test. The main purpose of the study is to provide an alternative version of the Stroop Test that overcomes some of the limitations of previous versions in assessing individuals with daltonism or age-related reading difficulties, and to obtain normative and standardised data for the Spanish population.
METHODS: This study is part of the Normacog project. We evaluated 905 individuals (age range, 18-93 years) to analyse the test\'s reliability and concurrent and construct validity. We evaluated the effect of age, sex, and level of education on UD Interference Test performance and calculated percentiles and age- and education-adjusted scaled scores.
RESULTS: The test has good reliability (α = 0.875) and concurrent (r = 0.443-0.725; p < .001) and construct validity (r = 0.472-0.737; p < .001). We observed age and educational level to have a significant effect on UD Interference Test scores, explaining 12-40% of variance. Sex only had a significant effect on the resistance to interference index.
CONCLUSIONS: We present an alternative version of the Stroop Color and Word Test with some advantages over previous versions. We provide standardised and normalised data for the Spanish population to correct the test according to the subject\'s age and level of education.

OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to study the relationship of healthy vascular aging (HVA) with lifestyle and the components of metabolic syndrome. We also analyzed the differences between chronological age and heart age (HA) and vascular age (VA) in the Spanish adult population without cardiovascular disease.
METHODS: This descriptive cross-sectional study selected 501 individuals without cardiovascular disease (mean age, 55.9 years; 50.3% women) via random sampling stratified by age and sex. HA was estimated with the Framingham equation, whereas VA was estimated with the VaSera VS-1500 device. HVA was defined as a <5-year difference between the chronological age and the HA or VA and the absence of a vascular lesion, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus.
RESULTS: Compared with the chronological age, the mean HA and VA were 2.98±10.13 and 3.08±10.15 years lower, respectively. Smoking (OR, 0.23), blood pressure ≥ 130/85mmHg (OR, 0.11), altered baseline blood glucose (OR, 0.45), abdominal obesity (OR, 0.58), triglycerides ≥ 150mg/dL (OR, 0.17), and metabolic syndrome (OR, 0.13) decreased the probability of HVA estimated by HA; an active lifestyle (OR, 1.84) and elevated high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (OR, 3.26) increased the probability of HVA estimated by HA. Smoking (OR, 0.45), blood pressure ≥ 130/85mmHg (OR, 0.26), altered baseline blood glucose (OR, 0.42), and metabolic syndrome (OR, 0.40) decreased the probability of HVA estimated by VA; abdominal obesity (OR, 1.81) had the opposite effect.
CONCLUSIONS: HA and VA were 3 years lower than the chronological age. HA was associated with tobacco consumption, physical activity, and the components of metabolic syndrome. Meanwhile, VA was associated with tobacco consumption, blood pressure, waist circumference, and altered baseline glycemia.
BACKGROUND: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Identifier: NCT02623894.

OBJECTIVE: To describe, for the first time, reference values for the cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI), brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (BA-PWV), carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (CF-PWV), and the central augmentation index and to establish their association with cardiovascular risk factors in the Spanish adult population aged 35 to 75 years without cardiovascular disease.
METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study. Through random sampling stratified by age and sex, we included 501 participants without cardiovascular disease. The mean age was 55.9 years and 50.3% were women. The measurements were taken using the SphigmoCor and Vasera VS-1500 devices.
RESULTS: Values for all measures, except those for the central augmentation index, were higher in men and increased with age and blood pressure. The mean values were as follows: CAVI, 8.01±1.44; BA-PWV, 12.93±2.68m/s; CF-PWV, 6.53±2.03 m/s, and central augmentation index, 26.84±12.79. On multiple regression analysis, mean blood pressure was associated with the 4 measures, glycated hemoglobin was associated with all measures except the central augmentation index, and body mass index showed an inverse association with CAVI. The explanatory capacity of age, sex, and mean blood pressure was 62% for BA-PWV, 49% for CF-PWV 49%, 54% for the CAVI, and 38% for the central augmentation index. On logistic regression, hypertension was associated with the CAVI (OR=3.45), VOP-BT (OR=3.44), VOP-CF (OR=3.38) and with the central augmentation index (OR=3.73).
CONCLUSIONS: All arterial stiffness measures increased with age. The CAVI and CF-PWV were higher in men and the central augmentation index was higher in women, with no differences in BA-PWV. This study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov. Identifier NCT02623894.