Knowledge, attitude, and practice of geriatric trauma risk assessment: Instrument development and validation

BackgroundEmergency providers and nurses play pivotal roles in the initial triage and risk assessment of geriatric trauma patients. Their knowledge, attitudes, and practices of geriatric trauma risk assessment may significantly influence geriatric trauma outcomes. This study aims to develop scales that comprehensively assess emergency providers knowledge, attitudes, and practices of geriatric trauma triage and risk assessment. MethodsWe designed the knowledge (30 items), attitude (14 items), and practice (14 items) scale using the American College of Surgeons geriatric trauma management guidelines. Each of the surveys was designed using a five-point Likert scale. Content validation was performed by nine clinicians and instrument design experts. We computed Cohens Kappa, and item and scale content validity indices (CVIs). ResultsOf the 30 items in the knowledge scale, 27 were retained. The Cohens Kappa value ranged from 0.3 to 1.0 and the item and scale CVIs for the 27 items were each 0.90. Of the 14 items on the attitude scale, 13 were retained. The Cohens Kappa value ranged from 0.6 to 1.0 and the item and scale CVIs for the 13 items were each 0.94. All 14 items in the practice scale were retained. The Cohens Kappa value ranged from 0.6 to 1.0 and item and scale CVIs for the 14 items were each 0.86. ConclusionWe present a content-validated survey instrument that can assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of geriatric trauma risk assessment among emergency providers and nurses.