Toward a reliable measure of breast self-examination. Attitudes and performance barriers

Breast self-examination (BSE) attitude scales are typically administered as part of face-to-face interviews or telephone surveys. The purpose of this study is to test the reliability (i.e., internal consistency) of a newly developed BSE scale that can be self-administered. The scale is made up of 24 items, each rated on a 5-point Likert-type scale. The scale items cover such issues as perceived seriousness and susceptibility to breast cancer, perceived effectiveness of breast self-examination, and personal barriers. Preliminary results were encouraging. Results of an exploratory factor analysis suggest that six factors may underlie this scale (common variance = 53%). Areas of item and scale improvements and implications for the use of this scale in health evaluation research are discussed.