Content Validity of an Assessment Tool to Identify Home Fall Hazards: The Westmead Home Safety Assessment

Identifying hazards in the homes of elderly people adequately is of central importance to reducing the risk of falls; however, no assessment tool has demonstrated validity in the area of, or focuses specifically on, home fall hazards. Content validity was undertaken to develop further and refine the Westmead Home Safety Assessment (WeHSA). A list of stimulus attributes was generated from an extensive literature review and contributed to an expert review by providing a descriptive scheme of the tool's domain of interest. A content analysis of the literature and the expert review process established the tool as having a high degree of content validity and an overall content validity index of 0.80. The rigorous process ensured that the items in the tool were complete and relevant to the focus of the assessment and helped to guide manual development. The WeHSA provides a meaningful tool to enhance therapists' ability to observe and judge hazards.