Hospital discharge of adults and older adults: checklist elaboration and validity

Abstract

Objective To describe content elaboration and validity of a checklist for preparing adults and older adults for hospital discharge. Methods This is a methodological study, developed from May 2020 to September 2022 (in two stages), for checklist elaboration and validity. The Delphi technique was used, with assessment by an expert committee for content validity. To calculate the degree of agreement, the agreement rate and the Content Validity Index (CVI) were used. Results A checklist with 17 items that help organize hospital discharge was prepared and validated. The checklist was prepared based on the compilation of results obtained from interviews with multidisciplinary team professionals, who worked in inpatient units, an integrative review on transition of care at hospital discharge of adult patients and reading of articles on the use of discharge checklist. In the first stage of validity, a mean was obtained for the instrument’s agreement rate, scope (94%) and relevance (91%). At the end of the second round, the mean CVI calculation was obtained (clarity: 0.95; relevance: 0.96). Conclusion The checklist was validated as to its content by consensus by an expert committee, and can be used by care teams or hospital discharge management.