title: Factor analysis as a tool in primary care research.
abstract: Research in primary health care is increasingly relying on questionnaires and surveys to address relevant research questions. In many cases, a variety of items are assessed representing attitude sets or multidimensional constructs. Factor analysis is an effective and efficient method for identifying underlying dimensions in a group of variables. In addition, factor analysis allows the investigator to reduce a large set of original variables to a smaller set of new composite factors for use in future investigations, with a minimum loss of information. The issues and methods of factor analysis are described and illustrated with data from an investigation of a medical school's attitudes toward gifts from industry.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Practice, Kentucky Clinic, University of Kentucky, Lexington 40536-0284.
authors.forename: A G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Mainous
mesh_terms: D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000379:methods*; D015233:Models, Statistical; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*