A measure for assessing patient perception of provider support for self-management of bipolar disorder.
OBJECTIVE
Health care providers have an important role in acknowledging and supporting patients' self-management of chronic illnesses such as bipolar disorder. This report describes the development and evaluation of a brief measure for assessing patient perception of providers' support for self-management of bipolar disorder.


METHODS
A 10-item measure was developed combining generic items from an existing measure of providers' autonomy supportive versus controlling style with items specific to the self-management of bipolar disorder. The psychometric properties of the measure and its relation to clinical variables were evaluated in a sample of patients enrolled in an ongoing randomized intervention trial.


RESULTS
Data were obtained from 420 patients with a chart diagnosis of bipolar disorder (mean age=44, 68% female, 88% Caucasian). The proportion of missing responses for items ranged from 0 to 3%. Reliability coefficient alpha for the full scale was 0.94. Corrected item-total correlations for individual items ranged from 0.70 to 0.83. Factor analysis identified a single factor accounting for 67% of total variance. Factor loadings for individual items were all at least 0.75. The measure showed moderate positive correlations with measures of self-efficacy for managing bipolar disorder (r=0.34; p < 0.001), treatment satisfaction (r=0.63; p < 0.001), small negative correlations with measures of mania symptoms (r=-0.11; p < 0.03) and depressive symptoms (r=-0.09; p < 0.10).


CONCLUSIONS
This measure shows good psychometric properties and good evidence for convergent and discriminant validity. It is promising for assessing an important aspect of care for bipolar disorder.
Center for Health Studies, Group Health Cooperative, Seattle, WA 98101, USA. ludman.e@ghc.org
Evette J
EJ
Ludman
Gregory E
GE
Simon
Carolyn M
CM
Rutter
Mark S
MS
Bauer
Jürgen
J
Unützer
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000628:therapy*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000592:standards*; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011594:Psychometrics; D012648:Self Care; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires