Development of an instrument that assesses individuals' burn prevention knowledge

Currently, no valid and reliable instrument that assesses an individual's burn prevention knowledge exists. Therefore, it is difficult to evaluate whether interventions aimed at increasing burn prevention knowledge are effective and useful. This study developed and tested a novel instrument that assessed an individual's burn prevention knowledge. This instrument may be used to evaluate the effect interventions aimed at increasing burn prevention knowledge have on an individual's burn prevention knowledge. Initially, a focus group composed of 22 American Burn Association Burn Prevention Committee members prioritized areas that individuals with increased burn prevention knowledge should be well informed about (ie, scalds, gasoline, elders, juvenile fire setters, and abuse). Then, 39 questions were developed (by the authors) to assess an individual's knowledge in these five priority areas and tested for their reliability and validity. Factor analysis techniques were used to develop the final survey (15 questions, explaining 76% of the variance in responses) that was administered in a larger sample (n = 113) to achieve adequate power for the study. The final survey was administered and tested in a group of pediatric, emergency department and clinic registered nurses for reliability and validity. The final survey developed has moderate interrater reliability (Cohen's kappa = 0.611), high intrarater reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.713), and good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.604). In addition, the final survey was determined to have face validity as well as construct validity (five components had eigenvalues >1.0). The survey developed is positioned to be tested in a multisite and multi-investigator study. If results from this study hold consistent in future studies, the survey developed can be used by researchers in future interventional studies aimed at increasing burn prevention knowledge without reservation.