Self-preservation ability and residential fire emergencies: replication and criterion-validity study.

In a previous study MacEachron and Janicki (1983) used the National Bureau of Standards approach to measuring self-preservation ability to estimate the prevalence of such skills in the New York State service population of 47,000 developmentally disabled persons. In the present study we replicated their results in another state serving 8,000 developmentally disabled persons. Moreover, we found that the operationalized National Bureau of Standards' measurement was a good predictor of a criterion measure of self-preservation ability. These results suggest the general feasibility of using these measurements to estimate prevalence, focus intervention strategies and capital expenditures to specific areas of need, and provide information to facilitate appropriate residential placement.