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Moral Distress Scale for Occupational Therapists: Part 1. Instrument Development and Content Validity
Neil H Penny1, Samantha J Bires2, Elizabeth A Bonn3
1Neil H. Penny, EdD, OTR/L, is Chair, Occupational Therapy Department, Alvernia University, Reading, PA; Neil.Penny@alvernia.edu.
Objective:
We describe the development of an instrument to measure moral distress experienced by occupational therapists and show how its content validity was established.
Method:
Written comments (n = 78) from a previous survey using the Moral Distress Scale-Revised-Other Health Provider Adult were used to modify that instrument and create the Moral Distress Scale-Revised-Occupational Therapy-Adult Settings (MDS-R-OT[A]). The MDS-R-OT[A] was distributed to a nationwide random sample of 400 occupational therapists who rated the relevance of each item to their clinical practice.
Results:
A scale content validity index of 81.8% was found (geriatric = 81.5%, physical disability = 80.8%, combination of the two = 85.7%).
Conclusion:
The MDS-R-OT[A] possesses acceptable content validity and is appropriate for use with occupational therapists working in geriatric or physical disability settings.
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