The Egress Enabler: Development and psychometric evaluation of an instrument to measure egressibility

Abstract

Background: Egressibility has been defined as a person-environment fit issue and describes accessibility to means of evacuation. Although egressibility concerns everyone, it has become a useful concept particularly in relation to safety and accessibility for people with functional limitations, commonly highlighted as a vulnerable group in egress scenarios. Egressibility is an important safety factor, but there has been limited efforts trying to quantify it.

Objective: The aim has been to develop an instrument to measure egressibility in public buildings, as well as conducting initial psychometric testing of the instrument.

Methods: The Egress Enabler is based on the previously developed Housing Enabler instrument. The Egress Enabler was developed in several steps by an interdisciplinary team, incorporating an expert panel and a case study.

Results: Evaluation of content validity was in line with previous similar efforts, inter-rater reliability was considered "good" to "excellent" by means of intraclass correlation, and qualitative assessment of construct validity showed theoretically sound results.

Conclusions: It is suggested that an instrument like the Egress Enabler is needed for a systematic evaluation of egressibility during design. construction or operation. This is needed for ensuring equal access to egress for people with functional limitations.

Keywords: Accessibility; Disabilities; Evacuation; Fire safety; Functional limitations.