Validation of an instrument to assess patient attitudes towards prescribing of pharmaceuticals by doctors.
OBJECTIVE
To establish the reliability and validity of a questionnaire designed to assess Chinese patients' attitudes towards pharmaceuticals that may influence the prescribing behaviours of their doctors.


METHODS
A draft questionnaire of 48 items was designed in English, translated into Chinese, and then back-translated into English. After establishing for content and face validity, it was administered to a convenience sample of patients. Responses were factor analysed to establish construct validity and to reduce the questionnaire's length.


METHODS
Hong Kong Chinese patients (n = 387) who visited one of 24 primary care doctors.


METHODS
Derived factor score means were compared among various age, gender and education groupings.


RESULTS
A final 21-item questionnaire was produced. Spearman's rank correlations indicated the instrument was relatively stable over repeated applications. Patients' attitudes were found to be multidimensional. The three-factor solution achieved a simple structure and accounted for 40% of the variance among the 21 items. Items loading heavily on each construct were internally consistent. Nine items measured patients' attitudes towards careful use of medications. Six questions measured a preference for information exchanges between patients and doctors. Six items measured patients' scepticism concerning the need for pharmaceuticals to hasten recovery from most illnesses. The three factors yielded factor score means that discriminated among the patients as expected.


CONCLUSIONS
The questionnaire met adequate standards for reliability and validity. It is suitable for further use in investigating Chinese patients' attitudes concerning pharmaceuticals and how these attitudes might influence their physicians' prescribing behaviours.
Chan
Cynthia S Y
CS
Department of Community and Family Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. cynthia-chan@cuhk.edu.hk
Fabb
Wesley E
WE
Hazlett
Clarke B
CB
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001290:Attitude; D002681:China / Q000208:ethnology; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D004358:Drug Therapy; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations