The person-centred care of older people with cognitive impairment in acute care (POPAC) scale - psychometric evaluation.

AIM

To test the reliability and validity of the Person-centred care of Older People with cognitive impairment in Acute Care scale to determine nurses' perceptions of person-centred care.

BACKGROUND

One-third of older adults admitted to hospital are at risk of serious hospital-acquired complications such as falls, infections and pressure injuries because of cognitive impairment. These risks can be reduced through person-centred practices. The Person-centred care of Older People with cognitive impairment in Acute Care scale is a self-report staff instrument to explore the extent to which person-centred practices are undertaken; however psychometric testing is limited.

METHODS

A cross-sectional sample of acute care nurses (n = 240) in Queensland, Australia completing self-report questionnaires. Psychometric analyses of item performance, reliability and validity were conducted.

RESULTS

Item analysis revealed independent items. One item was removed due to negatively associating with the scale, improving total Cronbach's alpha from 0.76 to 0.84. The three original factors were maintained with regrouping of items. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the revised model.

CONCLUSIONS

The revised Person-centred care of Older People with cognitive impairment in Acute Care scale had satisfactory psychometric properties when used as a total scale.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT

Scale brevity and simplicity together with rigorous development and testing indicates that the revised Person-centred care of Older People with cognitive impairment in Acute Care may be useful for quality improvement programmes into the care of older people in hospitals.