Inter-rater reliability of professional-caregiver-reported life events in adults with intellectual disabilities.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The inter-rater reliability (IRR) of the measure of life events in adults with intellectual disabilities was investigated. METHOD: Two staff members for each of 79 adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) living in group homes used a checklist to report the adults' exposure to and intensity of life events over the previous 12 months. The IRR was estimated with intraclass correlation analysis (ICC). The factors of the level of ID, number of years the rater knew the rated person and quality of community care were investigated for possible associations with level of reliability. RESULTS: The ICC values for the occurrence of life events were .44-.80 depending on the category of life events. In general, intensity measures showed lower ICC values. When the rater had known the person rated for 2 or more years or the quality of community care was high, the ICC values increased, whereas lower levels of ID were associated with lower ICC values. CONCLUSIONS: Inter-rater reliability in general was found to be acceptable. Further development and research are needed to improve the reliability of life event measures for more severe ID.