Validity of the Medication Safety Self-Assessment for Long-Term Care tool in Australian long-term care: a RAND...

The validity of using the Canadian Medication Safety Self-Assessment for Long-Term Care (MSSA-LTC) tool in the international context is unknown. This study aims to determine the face and content validity of the Canadian MSSA-LTC tool for assessing medication safety-related processes in the Australian long-term care (LTC) setting.

A modified two-round RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method was used to assess the face and content validity of the 129 items in the Canadian MSSA-LTC tool for use in the Australian LTC setting. An expert panel of health professionals with expertise in medication management in the Australian LTC setting rated each item separately for relevance to the Australian LTC context (face validity) and importance for medication safety (content validity). Items, where there was panel agreement that the item was definitely or potentially relevant for the Australian context/important for medication safety, were considered valid for the relevant attribute.

Nine expert panel members participated in the study. The expert panel rated 118 (91.5%) of the 129 items of the MSSA-LTC tool as acceptable relevant for the Australian LTC setting and, therefore, having face validity and all items (100%) as important for medication safety, thus having good content validity. The expert panel members were unable to agree about the relevance of nine items for use in the Australian LTC context and considered two items as not relevant for the Australian LTC context.

The Canadian MSSA-LTC tool appears valid for measuring medication safety-related processes in Australian LTC with good face and content validity.