[Spanish asthma patients' beliefs about health and medicines: validation of 2 questionnaires].
OBJECTIVE
We translated 2 health beliefs questionnaires-an instrument based on the health belief model (HBM) containing 19 items in 6 domains and the Beliefs About Medicines Questionnaire (BMQ) containing 18 items divided into a general and a specific section-and then administered and validated them in a group of Spanish patients with asthma.


METHODS
In 2 clinical visits data were collected on 126 patients with stable asthma of different levels of severity. At the first visit, the patients underwent spirometry and were asked questions about sociodemographic factors and clinical history. At the second visit, they completed the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Beck Depression Inventory, and the Spanish versions of the HBM and BMQ, which had been previously translated and backtranslated.


RESULTS
The BMQ had adequate internal consistency and content validity but the HBM replicated just 4 of the 6 domains present in the original questionnaire. The reformulated HBM (measuring 4 domains) accounted for 48% of the variance and had Cronbach #a levels ranging from 0.63 to 0.75. The 2 questionnaires showed interactions between a) negative beliefs about medicines and asthma and b) awareness of the need for medication and trust in physician and pessimism. Correlations were also found between negative beliefs and anxiety and depression and between awareness of the need for medication and disease severity. Finally, low educational level, female sex, and greater duration of asthma were correlated with beliefs that disease control was driven by chance.


CONCLUSIONS
The reformulated HBM and the BMQ have satisfactory measurement properties and assess similar but not identical aspects of beliefs and value judgments about health and medicine in individuals with asthma. These beliefs were correlated to different degrees with the clinical, sociodemographic, and psychologic variables studied.
Perpiñá Tordera
Miguel
M
Servicio de Neumología, Hospital Universitario La Fe, Valencia, España. perpinya_mig@gva.es
Martínez Moragón
Eva
E
Belloch Fuster
Amparo
A
Lloris Bayo
Amparo
A
Pellicer Císcar
Concepción
C
D000328:Adult; D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003469:Culture; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010555:Personality Inventory; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D013147:Spirometry; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D035502:Trust
D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents