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Conference Proceedings - School of Nursing & Midwifery - Trinity ...

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<strong>School</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong> & <strong>Midwifery</strong>, <strong>Trinity</strong> College Dublin: 8 th Annual Interdisciplinary Research <strong>Conference</strong><br />

Transforming Healthcare Through Research, Education & Technology: 7 th – 9 th November 2007<br />

<strong>Conference</strong> <strong>Proceedings</strong><br />

Back to contents page<br />

ASSESSING OLDER ADULTS PERSONAL ACTIVITIES OF DAILY<br />

LIVING (ADL) DO NURSES AND DOCTORS AGREE ON SCORES<br />

OBTAINED USING A STANDARDISED ASSESSMENT TOOL?<br />

Irene Hartigan<br />

RGN BScN Dip HSWW MSc CHSE<br />

College Lecturer,<br />

<strong>School</strong> <strong>of</strong> Nurisng & <strong>Midwifery</strong>,<br />

Brookfield Health Sciences Complex,<br />

University College Cork.<br />

Phone: 021-4901623<br />

Email: i.hartigan@ucc.ie<br />

Background<br />

Accurate physical functional assessment is essential for the<br />

evaluating changes in a patient’s functional ability. The barthel<br />

index is a widely used scale comprising <strong>of</strong> ten activities <strong>of</strong> daily<br />

living (ADL) which measures functional ability.<br />

Aims<br />

The aim <strong>of</strong> this study was to explore the inter-rater reliability<br />

between doctors and nurses in scoring the barthel index.<br />

Methods<br />

A prospective quantitative exploratory study was carried out. To<br />

standardise assessment between doctors and nurses a brief training<br />

session on the barthel index was given. The guidelines on the<br />

barthel index were available during this study to aid interpretation<br />

<strong>of</strong> the index. The barthel index was recorded on different occasions<br />

by 4 independent raters (2 doctors and 2 nurses) within the first 5<br />

days <strong>of</strong> a patient’s admission. As no ‘gold standard’ exists for which<br />

to compare the ratings, nurses were compared with nurses and<br />

doctors with compared doctors. The pr<strong>of</strong>essional group with higher<br />

intra agreement would be more indicative <strong>of</strong> the most reliable<br />

pr<strong>of</strong>ession for recording the index. Measurements <strong>of</strong> inter rater<br />

reliability was calculated for the total scores using Bland and Altman<br />

plot.<br />

Results<br />

A sample <strong>of</strong> 65 patients with a variety <strong>of</strong> medical problems and a<br />

mental test score <strong>of</strong> >7 participated in this study. The mean age <strong>of</strong><br />

participants was 81.56 years. Intra class correlation showed good<br />

agreement in all ADL, only grooming and bathing demonstrated bias<br />

error.<br />

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