Development of a Walking Safety Scale for Older Adults, Part I: Content Validity of the GEM Scale.

ABSTRACT Purpose: The Grille d’evaluation de la securite a la marche (GEM scale) is a performance-based tool developed to fill the need for an objective assessment of walking safety for older adults. It underwent a three-phase process of content validation. Method: A mailed questionnaire was used to assess the representativeness of the walking items (5-point pertinence scale). Subsequently, two physiotherapist focus groups (n = 20) were held to further evaluate the relevance of the scale and the walking items. Finally, a pilot study was completed with 3 raters administering the GEM scale to 12 hospitalized patients. Results: Comments and descriptive statistics (percentages) were analyzed from the questionnaire results and focus groups. On completion of the pilot study, which assessed 12 patients on the GEM scale, additional analyses were performed to address the theoretical background, the administration manual, the walking items, the scoring scale, and interpretation of the scale. Following each step, mo...