Inter-rater reliability of the Johns Hopkins Highest Level of Mobility Scale (JH-HLM) in the intensive care unit

Stephanie Hiser, Chi Ryang Chung, Amy Toonstra, Lisa Aronson Friedman, Elizabeth Colantuoni, Erik Hoyer, Dale M. Needham

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: The Johns Hopkins Highest Level of Mobility (JH-HLM) scale is used to document the observed mobility of hospitalized patients, including those patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) setting. Objective: To evaluate the inter-rater reliability of the JH-HLM, completed by physical therapists, across medical, surgical, and neurological adult ICUs at a single large academic hospital. Methods: The JH-HLM is an ordinal scale for documenting a patient's highest observed level of activity, ranging from lying in bed (score = 1) to ambulating >250 feet (score = 8). Eighty-one rehabilitation sessions were conducted by eight physical therapists, with 1 of 2 reference physical therapist rater simultaneously observing the session and independently scoring the JH-HLM. The intraclass correlation coefficient was used to determine the inter-rater reliability. Results: A total of 77 (95%) of 81 assessments had perfect agreement. The overall intraclass correlation coefficient for inter-rater reliability was 0.98 (95% confidence interval: 0.96, 0.99), with similar scores in the medical, surgical, and neurological ICUs. A Bland–Altman plot revealed a mean difference in JH-HLM scoring of 0 (limits of agreement: −0.54 to 0.61). Conclusion: The JH-HLM has excellent inter-rater reliability as part of routine physical therapy practice, across different types of adult ICUs.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)352-355
Number of pages4
JournalBrazilian Journal of Physical Therapy
Volume25
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - May 1 2021

Keywords

  • Critical illness
  • Intensive care unit
  • Mobility limitations
  • Physical function
  • Rehabilitation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation
  • Orthopedics and Sports Medicine
  • Rehabilitation

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