Are Your Patients Safe to Mobilize Alone in Their Room? The Johns Hopkins Hospital In-Room Independence Scale

Objective: Given the stigma of falls while hospitalized, inpatient rehabilitation facilities often restrict the independent room mobility of their patients. We assessed the psychometric properties of a new tool, the Johns Hopkins In-Room Independence Scale, to evaluate its effectiveness at identifying independence for in-room mobility. Design: Construct validity was assessed by comparing the Johns Hopkins In-Room Independence Scale to its “gold standard” counterparts, The Johns Hopkins Falls Risk Assessment Tool, the Activity Measure for Post-Acute Care Mobility and Activity, and the Centers for Medicare Quality Indicators. Reliability was assessed via Cronbach α. Results: One hundred ninety-seven episodes were included. In construct validity, the Johns Hopkins In-Room Independence Scale had significantly negative low correlation to the Johns Hopkins Falls Risk Assessment Tool (Spearman ρ = −0.281), and a significant moderate correlation to the Activity Measure for Post-Acute Care Activity and Activity Measure for Post-Acute Care Mobility (Spearman ρ =0.678 and 0.530, respectively). The Johns Hopkins In-Room Independence Scale was moderately positively correlated to the quality indicators for mobility and activity (Spearman ρ = 0.577 and 0.643, respectively). All two-tailed, α levels were 0.01. The Johns Hopkins In-Room Independence Scale reliability was strong (Cronbach α = 0.822, 15 items). Sensitivity and specificity were both 100%. Conclusions: Given the moderate validity, strong reliability, and high sensitivity/specificity, our study suggests that the Johns Hopkins In-Room Independence Scale be used to identify patients who have the capacity to mobilize independently in their room.