Interrater Reliability Testing of the Maternal Fetal Triage Index

Abstract

ObjectiveTo conduct interrater reliability testing of the Maternal Fetal Triage Index (MFTI), a standardized tool forobstetric triage. DesignObservational study of a convenience sample of nurses’ triage assessments of hospital-based obstetricpatients. Setting:A birth unit of a suburban hospital located in a large metropolitan region with approximately 5,200 birthsannually. ParticipantsTen registered nurses provided triage assessments of 211 pregnant women. Methods:Using blinded paired triage assessments, we assessed the reproducibility of the triage priority levels assignedusing the MFTI. Results:Priority levels assigned by the MFTI research nurse and the study nurses were in agreement for 154 of the211 (72.9%) triage assessments. The strength of agreement was classified as good based upon the weighted kappascore of 0.65. There was no statistically significant difference in the accuracy of assigning priority levels between theday and night shifts Conclusion:The interrater reliability of the MFTI met the minimum strength of agreement threshold goal of 0.60 whenused by nurses in a large birth unit to assign priority for evaluation. Based on this finding, the MFTI can be recommendedfor use in obstetric triage settings. Additional testing should be done to measure how this standardized tool improvescare processes and outcomes.