Development of an Assessment Tool for Vertical Accessibility in Spanish Homes.
Estíbaliz Jiménez-Arberas, Isabel Fernández Méndez, Gemma Ruíz Varela and 1 others
PMID 40526819WHAT IT FOUND
A Spanish home accessibility scale identifies barriers in building entrances, common areas, lifts and home entry.
In 156 people, its four sections produced consistent responses and matched the spaces they intended to measure.
Key findings
01The final scale has 48 items across four subscales: exterior and building entrance, horizontal mobility inside building and common areas, vertical mobility inside building, and access to home interior.
02After exploratory factor analysis, the subscales retained 14, 11, 11 and 12 items.
03Cronbach's alpha values for the four subscales were 0.780, 0.762, 0.700 and 0.866.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The 156 participants were volunteers from the Principality of Asturias, recruited through NGOs, social centres and municipalities, so the scale was not tested in other Spanish regions or housing settings. The methods report 67.3% women and 46.79% over 65, while the limitation section reports 63.3% women and 54% over 65; this inconsistency limits confidence in the exact sample mix. The pilot used 20 participants randomly selected from the same 156-person sample, and the exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were done with a single sample, so the structure was not tested in a separate sample. The study validated the scale but did not create a grading process or test whether using it changes decisions, participation or function. The scale was developed for Spanish homes and Spanish apartment buildings, so its use outside that context is not shown.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not treat this scale as proof that using it improves participation or function. It was tested in 156 volunteers from one Spanish region, and the study did not test whether using the scale changes decisions, participation or function.