Frank H Y Lai1, Elaine W H Yan2, Lynette Mackenzie3, Kenneth N K Fong1, Georg S Kranz1,4, Eric C W Ho5, Silvia H U Fan6, Alice T K Lee7. 1. Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong. 2. Occupational Therapy Department, Kowloon Hospital, Hong Kong. 3. Discipline of Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, Lidcombe NSW, Australia. 4. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria. 5. Occupational Therapy Department, Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital, Hong Kong. 6. Occupational Therapy Department, Tai Po Hospital, Hong Kong. 7. Occupational Therapy Department, TWGHs Jockey Club Rehabilitation Complex, Hong Kong.
Abstract
Background: The Chinese HomeFAST self-reported screening tool was developed to measure the number of hazards and the risk of home falls and other accidents for community-living older adults. Methods: This reliability, validity, and clinical utility study consisted of three phases. The tool's linguistic validity was established in the first phase of study, with a panel of domiciliary healthcare experts. In the second phase, the instrument yielded inter-rater reliability between community-living older adults and a group of experienced occupational therapists. Furthermore, in the third phase of study, factor analysis of the Chinese Home-FAST self-reported screening tool was conducted. Results: There was good linguistic validity, test-retest reliability and good to excellent internal consistency of the Chinese Home-FAST self-reported screening tool among older adults living in the community. Moreover, a structure with three factors - namely "Home Environment and Furniture," "Capability in Activities of Daily Living," and "Use of Devices" - was yielded from categorical principal components analysis. Clinically, the incidence of falls among this group of recruited older adults in a six-month period was 18%. The identification of seven or more hazards was associated with prediction of unplanned fall-related hospital admission with sensitivity of 83.33% and specificity of 95.83%. Conclusion: The Chinese HomeFAST self-reported screening tool is thus demonstrated to be a valid and reliable tool for measuring home hazards and can predict home falls in Chinese-speaking older adults.Implications for rehabilitationTo develop an easily understandable screening tool for older adults.Older adults can perform home safety screening on their own, and can identify potential risk of falls and other accidents at home.This can serve as a communication tool between older adults and healthcare professionals.Identified hazards can be reported to healthcare professionals for further intervention.This validated instrument can help healthcare professionals to identify higher-risk older adults in the community and thus to better prioritize their provision of professional services.
Background: The Chinese HomeFAST self-reported screening tool was developed to measure the number of hazards and the risk of home falls and other accidents for community-living older adults. Methods: This reliability, validity, and clinical utility study consisted of three phases. The tool's linguistic validity was established in the first phase of study, with a panel of domiciliary healthcare experts. In the second phase, the instrument yielded inter-rater reliability between community-living older adults and a group of experienced occupational therapists. Furthermore, in the third phase of study, factor analysis of the Chinese Home-FAST self-reported screening tool was conducted. Results: There was good linguistic validity, test-retest reliability and good to excellent internal consistency of the Chinese Home-FAST self-reported screening tool among older adults living in the community. Moreover, a structure with three factors - namely "Home Environment and Furniture," "Capability in Activities of Daily Living," and "Use of Devices" - was yielded from categorical principal components analysis. Clinically, the incidence of falls among this group of recruited older adults in a six-month period was 18%. The identification of seven or more hazards was associated with prediction of unplanned fall-related hospital admission with sensitivity of 83.33% and specificity of 95.83%. Conclusion: The Chinese HomeFAST self-reported screening tool is thus demonstrated to be a valid and reliable tool for measuring home hazards and can predict home falls in Chinese-speaking older adults.Implications for rehabilitationTo develop an easily understandable screening tool for older adults.Older adults can perform home safety screening on their own, and can identify potential risk of falls and other accidents at home.This can serve as a communication tool between older adults and healthcare professionals.Identified hazards can be reported to healthcare professionals for further intervention.This validated instrument can help healthcare professionals to identify higher-risk older adults in the community and thus to better prioritize their provision of professional services.
Entities:
Keywords:
Reliability; fall prevention; home safety; procedures; self-reported assessment; validity
Authors: Husna Ahmad Ainuddin; Muhammad Hibatullah Romli; Tengku Aizan Hamid; Mazatulfazura S F Salim; Lynette Mackenzie Journal: Front Public Health Date: 2021-03-03
Authors: Husna Ahmad Ainuddin; Muhammad Hibatullah Romli; Tengku Aizan Hamid; Mazatulfazura S F Salim; Hazwan Mat Din; Lynette Mackenzie Journal: Occup Ther Int Date: 2022-03-16 Impact factor: 1.448