VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY OF THE FRENCH TRANSLATION OF THE IDENTIFICATION OF FUNCTIONAL ANKLE INSTABILITY (IDFAI)

Objective: To translate and validate the Identification of Functional Ankle Instability (IdFAI) into French.
Methods: The IdFAI was translated according to international recommendations. Discriminative power, floor and ceiling effects, construct validity (including confirmatory factorial analysis (CFA)), internal consistency and test-retest reliability were measured. Standard error of measurement (SEM) and smallest detectable change were also calculated. Results: 160 participants were included. The IdFAI-F showed a very good test-retest reliability (ICC=0.95). The SEM was 1.37 and the MDC was 3.79. The internal consistency was moderate (Cronbach’s α coefficient=0.68). The correlation between the IdFAI and the Cumberland Ankle Instability Tool was high (r=0.75, p<0.001). No floor nor ceiling effects were observed. The CFA analyses did not confirm the factor structure proposed by the authors of the original English version.
Conclusion: The IdFAI-F is a valid and reliable tool to accurately identify and measure chronic ankle instability in research and clinical settings for French speaking individuals.