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.
Ludman
Evette J
EJ
Center for Health Studies, Group Health Cooperative, Seattle, WA 98101, USA. ludman.e@ghc.org
Simon
Gregory E
GE
Rutter
Carolyn M
CM
Bauer
Mark S
MS
Unützer
Jürgen
J
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