title: A modified Drug Attitude Inventory used in long-term patients in sheltered housing.
abstract: The self-report Drug Attitude Inventory (DAI), in 30- and 10-item versions, provides unique information of clinical relevance for monitoring treatment adherence among people diagnosed with schizophrenia. The primary purpose of this paper was to evaluate the 10-item version among patients living in sheltered housing. Data were collected among 68 persons living in sheltered housing, most of them (82%) diagnosed with schizophrenia, 6% with non-organic psychoses, and 12% with other diagnoses. The dichotomic response format of the original DAI-10 was replaced by a 4-point Likert scale, in order to improve the resolution of the scale. Over 90% of the participants produced meaningful scores. A factor analysis suggested a 2-factor orthogonal structure: one highly homogenous factor (5 items) reflected wanted effects of the drug and displayed a bimodal distribution; one factor (3 items) reflected side effects. One item concerned the perceived control over one's drug treatment, which is a key clinical issue. One item was conceptually ambiguous and displayed no correlations with the other items. On the basis of the results we suggest cut-off scores which indicate the need for three kinds of adherence-improving interventions. Summing up, by dropping one item and using a Likert scale response format, the resulting instrument, DAI-9, appears to be an easy-to-use self-report instrument for monitoring drug attitudes and to identify needs for treatment adherence interventions among seriously ill patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, Lund University, Box 157, 221 00 Lund, Sweden. Electronic address: sigrid.stjernsward@med.lu.se.
authors.forename: Sigrid
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stjernswärd
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Persson
authors.forename: René
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nielsen
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tuninger
authors.forename: Sten
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Levander
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D006801:Humans; D038801:International Classification of Diseases; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D055118:Medication Adherence; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy; D008875:Middle Aged; D010358:Patient Participation; D011379:Prognosis; D011605:Psychoses, Substance-Induced / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy; D011638:Public Housing; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D057566:Self Report; D013548:Sweden; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents