• Jim Anderst, M Denise Dowd, Patricia Schnitzer, and Tom Tryon.
• Section on Child Abuse and Neglect, Children’s Mercy Hospital, University of Missouri Kansas City School of Medicine, Kansas City, Missouri 64108, USA. jdanderst@cmh.edu
• Pediatrics. 2012 Jun 1;129(6):e1517-24.

ObjectivesStandardized evaluation tools have been shown to reduce variability in care. The objective of this study was to develop a clinically oriented evaluation tool for the rapid assessment of the adequacy of supervision of a young child.MethodsThe Rapid Assessment of Supervision Scale (RASS) was developed via a 3-step process: (1) a modified Delphi survey of child abuse experts identified the most important characteristics for use in the assessment of adequacy of supervision; (2) the RASS was designed by using standardized definitions and the results of the Delphi survey; and (3) a total of 4 medical professionals evaluated 139 real case scenarios by using the RASS. Reliability and feasibility were assessed.ResultsSixty-seven child abuse experts participated in round 2 of the Delphi process and 50 participated in round 3. The RASS included 9 supervision characteristics identified from the Delphi process, standardized definitions, and a scoring system. The interclass correlation coefficients for interrater reliability of the mean RASS scores and overall supervision classification were 0.63 (95% confidence interval: 0.56-0.70; P = .000) and 0.59 (95% confidence interval: 0.51-0.67; P = .000), respectively, indicating moderate to strong agreement. For intrarater reliability, correlation coefficients for mean RASS scores indicated moderate to high correlation (0.50-0.83). Correlation for overall classification of supervision ranged from low to high (0.27-0.80).ConclusionsThe RASS scale has been shown to be efficient and, in a small sample, to have moderate to substantial interrater agreement. Further development could result in a tool that aids clinicians and researchers in the evaluation of supervision.

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