Content Validation for an Emergency Department Fall Risk Assessment Instrument

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Emergency Medicine
• Healthcare Quality Improvement

Background:

• Numerous fall risk assessment tools exist for inpatient settings.
• Limited validation of these tools for the emergency department (ED) population.
• Need for a specific, validated instrument for ED fall risk assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate an instrument to assess fall risk in the emergency department.
• To create a tool tailored to the unique characteristics of ED patients.

Main Methods:

• Development of the Hurwitz Fall Risk Assessment Instrument using clinical expertise and literature review.
• Expert content review by seven fall prevention specialists.
• Content validity index (CVI) used to determine item and scale relevance.

Main Results:

• Two rounds of expert review were conducted.
• A scale CVI universal agreement of 1 was achieved.
• All items were deemed relevant and appropriate for ED patients.

Conclusions:

• The Hurwitz Fall Risk Assessment Instrument is content-validated for the emergency department population.
• Establishes a reliable tool for assessing fall risk in ED settings.