title: The Nordic Housing Enabler: Inter-rater reliability in cross-Nordic occupational therapy practice. Previously published in Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy 2010; 17: 258-266.
abstract: This study addresses development of a content-valid cross-Nordic version of the Housing Enabler and investigation of its inter-rater reliability when used in occupational therapy rating situations, involving occupational therapists, clients, and their home environments. The instrument was translated from the original Swedish version of the Housing Enabler, and adapted according to accessibility norms and guidelines for housing design in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland. This iterative process involved occupational therapists, architects, building engineers, and professional translators, resulting in the Nordic Housing Enabler. For reliability testing, the sampling strategy and data collection procedures used were the same in all countries. Twenty voluntary occupational therapists, pair-wise but independently of each other, collected data from 106 cases by means of the Nordic Housing Enabler. Inter-rater reliability was calculated by means of percentage agreement and kappa statistics. Overall good percentage agreement for the personal and environmental components of the instrument was shown, indicating that the instrument was sufficiently reliable for application in practice and research in the Nordic context. The varying kappa results highlight the need for further study in order to understand the influence of prevalence more profoundly, which should be kept in mind when interpreting the results.
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Therapy, University College of Northern Jutland in Aalborg, Denmark.
authors.forename: Tina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Helle
authors.forename: Carita
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nygren
authors.forename: Björn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Slaug
authors.forename: Aase
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brandt
authors.forename: Aila
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pikkarainen
authors.forename: Anne-Grethe
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pétursdórttir
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Iwarsson
keywords: Accessibility; housing adaptation; occupational therapy; physical environment; translation