Inter-rating reliability of the Swiss easy-read integrated palliative care outcome scale for people with dementia

The Integrated Palliative Care Outcome Scale for People with Dementia is a promising instrument for nursing home quality improvement and research in dementia care. It enables frontline staff in nursing homes to understand and rate the needs and concerns of people with dementia. We recently adapted the measure to include easy language for users from various educational backgrounds. This study examines the inter-rating reliability of the Integrated Palliative Care Outcome Scale for People with Dementia for frontline staff in nursing homes. 317 frontline staff members in 23 Swiss nursing homes assessed 240 people with dementia from a convenience sample. Reliability for individual items was computed using Fleiss Kappa. The individual Integrated Palliative Care Outcome Scale for People with Dementia items showed kappa values between .38 (95% CI .3–.48) and .15 (95% CI .08–.22). For the experimental IPOS-Dem sum score, a dependability index of .57 was found. The different ratings and time between ratings explain less than 2% of the variance in the sum score. The different nursing homes make up 12% and the people with dementia make up 43% of the sum score variance. The dependability study indicates that an experimental IPOS-Dem sum score could be acceptable for research by averaging two ratings