Internal consistency and responsiveness of the Skin Management Needs Assessment Checklist post-spinal cord injury.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the internal consistency and sensitivity to change of the Skin Management needs assessment checklist (SMnac), a measure specifically developed for the spinal cord injury (SCI) population to assess skin management ability and equip individuals with the skills they need to prevent pressure ulcer development.

STUDY

DESIGN

Consecutive series, psychometric evaluation study.

SETTING

Spinal Cord Injuries Rehabilitation Unit, United Kingdom.

PARTICIPANTS

317 participants with traumatic or nontraumatic SCI.

MEASURE: This study used the SMnac, which assesses the ability to perform skin checking, pressure relief, and the prevention of skin insults based on the individual's perception of his or her ability to independently undertake skin management activities.

RESULTS

Assessment of internal consistency produced a Cronbach's alpha for this scale of 0.85. A paired-samples t test was used to evaluate the SMnac's sensitivity to change. There was a significant difference between the first and second SMnac scores (t = - 24.38, df = 186, P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

The SMnac has high internal consistency and sensitivity to change. The SMnac provides constructive assessment of skin management, specifying problems for individuals with SCI, standardizing the critical inputs required to meet rehabilitation targets, and measuring the effects of those inputs and their relationship to other mediating variables and expected outcome.