Development and content validation of a risk classification instrument

Area of Science:

• Emergency Medicine
• Health Services Research
• Patient Triage

Background:

• Effective patient risk classification is crucial in primary health care emergency services.
• Existing tools may require validation or refinement for specific primary care settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate an instrument for patient risk classification in primary health care emergency services.
• To ensure the instrument is clear, relevant, and accurately reflects patient severity.

Main Methods:

• The study involved two stages: item generation and content validity assessment.
• Item generation included a literature review and retrospective analysis of medical records.
• Content validity was established using the Content Validity Ratio (CVR) with expert judges.

Main Results:

• 52 items were retained after validation by 75 and 71 judges across two rounds.
• The instrument was divided into three risk categories: red, orange, and yellow.
• Minimum adherence scores for latent variable items were met, indicating robust content.

Conclusions:

• The developed instrument is valid for patient risk classification in primary health care emergency settings.
• The tool demonstrates clarity, relevance, pertinence, and agreement on severity indication.
• This validated instrument can enhance the accuracy of emergency service triage.