Development and initial validation of a scale to measure attitudes and beliefs of pharmacists toward their work with patients

Abstract

Background/Aim. Studies on physicians and other health care professionals indicate that attitudes towards and beliefs in their work with patients, can affect the quality of health care, and patients' behaviour and compliance, thus an instrument is needed to survey pharmacists as healthcare providers. The aim of this study was to describe the development and psychometric validation of a survey instrument to assess attitudes and beliefs of pharmacists toward their work with patients (Pharmacists' Attitudes and Beliefs Scale, PABS). The aim of this research was to determine the reliability, validity and factor structure of a newly constructed instrument - PABS. Methods. The statements from the cognitive, affective, and behavioral areas were identified by literature review and selected to cover the behavior of pharmacists in providing pharmaceutical care at community settings. The initial 5- point Likert type scale of 30 items was constructed and after initial validation its revised form developed. The reliability, construct validity and factor structure of the scale were established. Results. The reliability of the scale was determined by the method of internal consistency, on a convenient sample of 123 community pharmacists. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.67. Factor analysis of principal components was performed and 7 factors with latent roots greater than 1 were extracted, explaining 64.92% of total variance, a single 30.84%, 8.20%, 6.55%, 5.63%, 5.01%, 4.68% and 4.01%. Based on the results of factor analysis in the development of the scale, some items in the scale were excluded (totally 7), so that the revised form of the PABS contained a total of 23 items. Conclusion. The initial PABS scale did not meet theoretical statistical criteria for reliability (Cronbach's alpha coefficient was lt 0.7), but the findings indicated its potentially acceptable construct validity. The results support its use as a research tool to assess the behavior of pharmacists in daily practice, and provide its use as an indicator of quality in delivering pharmaceutical care.

Uvod/Cilj. Istraživanja na populaciji lekara i drugih zdravstvenih radnika pokazuju da stavovi i uverenja koja imaju o svom radu sa pacijentima, mogu uticati na kvalitet pružene zdravstvene zaštite, te se stoga nameće potreba da se ovo istraži i kod farmaceuta. Cilj ove studije bio je da se razvije skala za ispitivanje opštih stavova i uverenja farmaceuta o sopstvenom radu sa pacijentima (SOSUF) i da se ispitaju metrijske karakteristike ovog instrumenta. Metode. Izdvojene su tvrdnje iz kognitivne, afektivne i bihevioralne oblasti kojima je obuhvaćeno ponašanje farmaceuta prilikom pružanja farmaceutske zdravstvene zaštite u javnoj apoteci. Razvijena je inicijalna skala (SOSUF-i) kao 5-ostepena skala Likertovog tipa od 30 tvrdnji. Izvršena je validacija inicijalnog instrumenta utvrđivanjem pouzdanosti, validnosti i faktorske strukture skale i predložena nova razvijena verzija skale SOSUF. Rezultati. Na uzorku od 123 farmaceuta zaposlena u javnim apotekama sprovedena je validacija SOSUF- a. Pouzdanost je određena primenom metode unutrašnje konzistencije, Kronbah-ov koeficijent alfa iznosio je 0,67. Izvršena je faktorska analiza glavnih komponenti i dobijeno je sedam faktora sa latentnim korenima većim od 1, koji objašnjavaju 64,92% ukupne varijanse, a pojedinačno 30,84%, 8,20%, 6,55%, 5,63%, 5,01%, 4,68% i 4,01%. Na osnovu rezultata faktorske analize, a u sklopu razvoja skale, neke tvrdnje u skali izuzete su (ukupno 7), tako da razvijena verzija SOSUF-a sada sadrži ukupno 23 tvrdnje. Zaključak. Inicijalna skala SOSUF-i ne zadovoljava teorijske statističke kriterijume pouzdanosti (Kronbach-ov alfa koeficijent lt 0,7), ali na osnovu rezultata može se pretpostaviti da efektivno meri stavove i uverenja farmaceuta o sopstvenom radu sa pacijentima. Rezultati merenja ukazuju na ponašanje farmaceuta u svakodnevnoj praksi kojim utiču na ponašanje pacijenata, i mogli bi se koristiti kao pokazatelj kvaliteta rada u pružanju farmaceutske zdravstvene zaštite na primarnom nivou.