Values in the choice of treatment: replication and refinement.
The Gortner Values in the Choice of Treatment Inventory is a set of statements based on the moral principles of autonomy and beneficence/nonmaleficence (Beauchamp & Childress, 1979). The inventory was developed and used with cardiac surgery patients and spouses (Gortner, Hudes, & Zyzanski, 1984) and has been replicated with a new sample of coronary artery bypass surgery or value replacement surgery patients and spouses. Significant patient-spouse correlations were obtained for the Autonomy, rs = .26, p = .03, and Beneficence/Nonmaleficence scales, rs = .38, p = .002. Repeated measures analysis of variance showed a significant main effect for the value preference of Autonomy over Beneficence/Nonmaleficence, p = .001, when the family score (arithmetical mean of patient-spouse score) was used as the unit of analysis. A refinement was done on the combined samples from this and the early trial through a separate factor analysis. The final two-factor solution suggests that a common factor and scoring solution, based on 12 inventory items, fits both family and patient data.
Gortner
S R
SR
School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco.
Zyzanski
S J
SJ
D035841:Behavioral Research; D026686:Beneficence; D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures / Q000523:psychology*; D002755:Choice Behavior; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000523:psychology; D030881:Disclosure; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage; D008875:Middle Aged; D009014:Morals; D010358:Patient Participation; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D012945:Social Values; D018454:Spouses