Measuring patients' medical care preferences: care seeking versus self-treating.
The objectives of this study were (1) to develop a scale to measure patient preferences for using medical care, (2) to assess the reliability and validity of the scale, and (3) to examine factors predicting preferences. Preferences were defined along a continuum, anchored by self-treating preferences and care-seeking preferences. A 9-item scale was developed and mailed to a random sample of 3500 Wisconsin consumers age 50 and older. Ordinary least squares regression was used to examine whether preferences were predicted by demographic and health status variables. A 56.9% usable response rate was obtained. The Medical Care Preference Scale was unidimensional and had a Cronbach's alpha of 0.879. Younger individuals, women, individuals in better health, and individuals from rural areas had significantly stronger self-treating preferences. Significant correlations between the preference scale and 2 measures of health care utlization provided evidence of predictive validity. Individuals with care-seeking preferences used an average of 1.98 more prescription drugs and had 0.50 more physician visits in the past month than individuals with self-treating preferences. The Medical Care Preference Scale should be a useful tool for research on health care utilization.
Ganther
J M
JM
College of Pharmacy, University of Iowa, Iowa City 52242, USA.
Wiederholt
J B
JB
Kreling
D H
DH
D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006296:Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D016018:Least-Squares Analysis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012648:Self Care; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014922:Wisconsin