Development of the Critically Ill Patient Eye Assessment Scale: A study of validity and reliability.

Background: Eye care and assessment of the eye are critical for intensive care patients to prevent ocular complications like dry eye and corneal abrasion. However, there is no measurement tool developed for intensive care patients that examines the risks of ocular complications.

Aim: This study aims to develop a valid and reliable tool, the Critically Ill Patient Eye Assessment Scale (CIPEAS), for assessing the risk of ocular complications and determining the frequency of eye care.

Study design: This study is an instrument development study. This methodological study was conducted with 151 intensive care patients in Turkey between March 2022 and March 2023. Data were collected with the Patient Information Form and the CIPEAS. The data were evaluated using SPSS 23 statistical software. AMOS 21 was used to verify the structure obtained with CFA. Exploration and confirmatory factor analyses were performed to determine the scale's factorial structure.

Results: As a result of exploratory factor analysis, a six-item scale consisting of a single dimension was obtained, explaining 59.993% of the total variance. The fit indices of the scale were found to be χ²/SD = 2.653, GFI = 0.954, RMSEA = 0.075, NFI = 0.949 and CFI = 0.967. Cronbach's alpha of the scale was found to be 0.862.

Conclusion: The CIPEAS was found to be a valid and reliable assessment tool.

Relevance to clinical practice: The Critically Ill Patient Eye Assessment Scale is a valid and reliable tool for Turkish society for assessing the risk of ocular complications. It is recommended for various national and international studies with different patients in intensive care units.