Reliability and validity of the Safety Assessment Scale for people with dementia living at home.
BACKGROUND
With the recent funding changes in health care services, more seniors with dementia are cared for in their homes and the nature of their condition puts them at higher risk for accidents and injuries.


OBJECTIVE
The Safety Assessment Scale (SAS) was developed for use by community healthcare providers to evaluate and lower the risk of accidents, provide recommendations to family caregivers and enhance case management. Method. The scale was assessed in terms of the reliability as well as content, criterion and construct validity with 176 community-residing people with dementia in Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia. The Safety Assessment Scale was validated in French and English.


RESULTS
The SAS demonstrated an excellent test-retest (ICC=.91) and inter-rater (ICC=.88) reliability. Results for validity were also extremely good.


CONCLUSIONS
The scale is available in French and English. The short version of the SAS is a screening tool and the longer version provides an in-depth evaluation of safety and intervention planning. The SAS can be used by a variety of health care professionals who work with individuals who have dementia.
de Poulin
Courval Louise
CL
Department of Family Medicine, McGill University, Côte-des-Neiges, Montreal. lpoulind@ssss.gouv.qc.ca
Gélinas
Isabelle
I
Gauthier
Serge
S
Dayton
David
D
Liu
Lili
L
Rossignol
Michel
M
Sampalis
John
J
Dastoor
Dolly
D