title: A systematic review of instruments to assess organizational readiness for knowledge translation in health care.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The translation of research into practices has been incomplete. Organizational readiness for change (ORC) is a potential facilitator of effective knowledge translation (KT). However we know little about the best way to assess ORC. Therefore, we sought to systematically review ORC measurement instruments.
  
  
  METHODS
  We searched for published studies in bibliographic databases (Pubmed, Embase, CINAHL, PsychINFO, Web of Science, etc.) up to November 1st, 2012. We included publications that developed ORC measures and/or empirically assessed ORC using an instrument at the organizational level in the health care context. We excluded articles if they did not refer specifically to ORC, did not concern the health care domain or were limited to individual-level change readiness. We focused on identifying the psychometric properties of instruments that were developed to assess readiness in an organization prior to implementing KT interventions in health care. We used the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing to assess the psychometric properties of identified ORC measurement instruments.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found 26 eligible instruments described in 39 publications. According to the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing, 18 (69%) of a total of 26 measurement instruments presented both validity and reliability criteria. The Texas Christian University -ORC (TCU-ORC) scale reported the highest instrument validity with a score of 4 out of 4. Only one instrument, namely the Modified Texas Christian University - Director version (TCU-ORC-D), reported a reliability score of 2 out of 3. No information was provided regarding the reliability and validity of five (19%) instruments.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings indicate that there are few valid and reliable ORC measurement instruments that could be applied to KT in the health care sector. The TCU-ORC instrument presents the best evidence in terms of validity testing. Future studies using this instrument could provide more knowledge on its relevance to diverse clinical contexts.
authors.affiliation: Research Center of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec, Québec, Canada; Faculty of Nursing, Université Laval, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Marie-Pierre
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Gagnon
authors.affiliation: Research Center of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Randa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Attieh
authors.affiliation: Research Center of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: El Kebir
authors.initials: el K
authors.lastname: Ghandour
authors.affiliation: Research Center of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec, Québec, Canada; Department of Family Medicine, Université Laval, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: France
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Légaré
authors.affiliation: Research Center of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec, Québec, Canada; Department of Political Science, Université Laval, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Mathieu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ouimet
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
authors.forename: Carole A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Estabrooks
authors.affiliation: Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada; Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Grimshaw
mesh_terms: D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D020380:Needs Assessment; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D058996:Quality Improvement; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D057170:Translational Research, Biomedical