OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine interrater and intra-rater reliability of the Violence Assessment Tool© (VAT©) for identifying patients at risk for aggressive/violent behavior in 4 patient care settings: acute care, emergency department, ambulatory care, and home care.
BACKGROUND: There is a lack of evidence evaluating the psychometric properties of violence risk assessment tools used outside of the behavioral health setting.
METHODS: This psychometric study, using standardized patient vignettes to assess the interrater and intra-rater reliability of the VAT©, was conducted at a large healthcare system in the Midwest and its affiliated simulation center.
RESULTS: Intraclass correlations indicated good interrater reliability (0.75 or higher) for the overall VAT© score in each of the study settings and good intra-rater reliability looking at the VAT© score-based risk category.
CONCLUSIONS: Based on this study, the VAT© is a reliable instrument for assessing the risk for violent behavior of patients outside the behavioral health setting.
Emmerling SA, McGarvey JS, Greenwood-Williamson J. Intra-rater and interrater reliability of the violence assessment tool©. J Nurs Adm. 2026;56(2):81–85. DOI:10.1097/nna.0000000000001683. PMID: 41568834
