Reliability of INTERMED Spanish version and applicability in liver transplant patients: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND Integrated delivery methods in healthcare systems have been proposed to confront the increasing complexity in general health care. INTERMED is an empirically derived, observer-rated instrument to measure case complexity. It was intended as a visualized, action-oriented decision-support tool for the early assessment of bio-psychosocial health risks and health needs. This study aims to document the reliability and applicability of the Spanish version of INTERMED in liver transplant patients. METHODS Cross-sectional study of patients who had been included in the liver transplant waiting list. Two nurses interviewed the patients with INTERMED, and scored the instrument blind to each other. Kappa and w-kappa, Spearman, Kendall and intraclass correlation coefficients, and Cronbach's alfa were calculated. RESULTS No patient refused the interview. Satisfactory coefficients were documented in most INTERMED items. Kappa was = 0.858 for the categorization of patients as "complex", and 21 of them (48.8%) were classified in this category, and were considered to need integrated treatment. CONCLUSIONS The Spanish version of INTERMED is reliable. Its applicability in liver transplant patients adds to its generalizability.