Investigating the reliability and validity of the waterlow risk assessment scale: a literature review.
Affiliation
The Mater Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.Issue Date
2012-02-01T11:08:55ZMeSH
HumansPressure Ulcer/*epidemiology
Reproducibility of Results
Risk Assessment
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Clin Nurs Res. 2011 May;20(2):197-208. Epub 2010 Nov 15.Journal
Clinical nursing researchDOI
10.1177/1054773810389809PubMed ID
21078891Abstract
The aim of this review was to examine health literature on the reliability and validity of the Waterlow pressure sore assessment scale. A systematic review of published studies relating to the topic was conducted and literature was examined for its relevancy to the topic under investigation. Findings suggest that despite the availability of over 40 assessment tools, the Waterlow assessment scale is the most frequently used by health care staff. Research suggests that the Waterlow Scale is an unreliable method of assessing individuals at risk of pressure sore development with all studies indicating a poor interrater reliability status. Its validity has also been criticized because of its high-sensitivity but low-specificity levels.Language
engISSN
1552-3799 (Electronic)1054-7738 (Linking)
ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1177/1054773810389809