Psychometric properties of the Mental Health Recovery Star

Background The Mental Health Recovery Star (MHRS) is a popular outcome measure rated collaboratively by staff and service users, but its psychometric properties are unknown. Aims To assess the MHRS's acceptability, reliability and convergent validity. Method A total of 172 services users and 120 staff from in-patient and community services participated. Interrater reliability of staff-only ratings and test-retest reliability of staff-only and collaborative ratings were assessed using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs). Convergent validity between MHRS ratings and standardised measures of social functioning and recovery was assessed using Pearson correlation. The influence of collaboration on ratings was assessed using descriptive statistics and ICCs. Results The MHRS was relatively quick and easy to use and had good test-retest reliability, but interrater reliability was inadequate. Collaborative ratings were slightly higher than staff-only ratings. Convergent validity suggests it assesses social function more than recovery. Conclusions The MHRS cannot be recommended as a routine clinical outcome tool but may facilitate collaborative care planning.