Efforts to establish the reliability of the Resident Assessment Instrument

• Published in: Age and Ageing
• Main Authors: Sgadari, A, Morris, J N, Fries, B E, Ljunggren, G, Jonsson, P V, DuPaquier, J N, Schroll, M
• Other Authors: Istituto di Medicina Interna e Geriatria, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy. [e-mail]
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 2011
• Subjects: Activities of Daily Living; Affect; Aged; Diffusion of Innovation; Europe; Geriatric Assessment; Humans; Japan; Nursing Homes; Observer Variation; Patient Admission; Reproducibility of Results; United States; Iceland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2336/123883; https://doi.org/10.1093/ageing/26.suppl_2.27

To access publisher full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field BACKGROUND: since its original implementation in the USA, the Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI) has been used in many countries in languages other than English. This paper describes the efforts that have been made to test the inter-rater reliability of the core set of items forming the minimum data set items in the USA and in non-English speaking countries (Denmark, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Sweden and Switzerland). RESULTS: a large proportion (from 70 to 96%) of the items in the RAI achieved an adequate to excellent level of reliability, with no substantial differences across countries. The RAI met the standard for good reliability (i.e. a kappa value of 0.6 or higher) in crucial areas of functional status, such as memory, activities of daily living self-performance and support, and bowel and bladder continence in most of the countries. Indicators of mood and behavioural problems achieved adequate reliability levels of 0.4 or higher.