Moral Distress Scale for Occupational Therapists: Part 1. Instrument Development and Content Validity.

OBJECTIVE: We describe the development of an instrument to measure moral distress experienced by occupational therapists and show how its content validity was established.

METHOD: Written comments (n = 78) from a previous survey using the Moral Distress Scale-Revised-Other Health Provider Adult were used to modify that instrument and create the Moral Distress Scale-Revised-Occupational Therapy-Adult Settings (MDS-R-OT[A]). The MDS-R-OT[A] was distributed to a nationwide random sample of 400 occupational therapists who rated the relevance of each item to their clinical practice.

RESULTS: A scale content validity index of 81.8% was found (geriatric = 81.5%, physical disability = 80.8%, combination of the two = 85.7%).

CONCLUSION: The MDS-R-OT[A] possesses acceptable content validity and is appropriate for use with occupational therapists working in geriatric or physical disability settings.