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A Roadmap for Practice-Based Evidence: Validation of the Hester Davis Fall Risk Scale
Jennifer Kaiser1, Nicole Wills, Therese Reilly
1Nursing Practice and Development (Dr Kaiser), Nursing Administration, Orthopedics and Neuroscience (Ms Wills), Corporate Quality Improvement (Ms Reilly), Medical/Surgical Gastrointestinal/Genitourinary (Mss Pratt and Niemeyer), Neuroscience (Ms Tumbleson), and Trauma and Orthopedic Reconstruction (Ms Mindling), Spectrum Health, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Background:
To ensure successful integration and implementation of evidence into practice, validation of measures and interventions should be performed in the population and setting in which they will be used.
Purpose:
This article provides a method for evaluating the predictive performance of a risk tool using the Hester Davis fall risk tool as an example.
Methods:
A retrospective matched-pairs sample of fallers and nonfallers was created. Psychometric properties were calculated using 2 × 2 contingency tables and compared to data in the original report.
Results:
In this study sample, the risk tool showed minimal ability to distinguish patients at risk for falling from those not at risk.
Conclusions:
Organizations are urged to assess the performance of risk tools in their own patient population. This article provides a practical approach for the validation of evidence into the practice setting.
