Psychometric evaluation of hill-bone medication adherence subscale

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Psychometrics
• Chronic Disease Management

Background:

• Medication adherence is crucial for managing high blood pressure (HBP).
• The Hill-Bone Medication Adherence (HBMA) scale is widely used but lacks validation in Korean American populations, who have a high HBP prevalence.
• This study addresses the need for a culturally validated tool for this demographic.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate a Korean translation of the HBMA scale (HBMA-K) for assessing medication adherence in Korean Americans with HBP.
• To establish the psychometric properties of the HBMA-K scale within this specific population.

Main Methods:

• Translation and back-translation of the original HBMA scale into Korean.
• Reliability testing using Cronbach's alpha.
• Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) for construct validity and Pearson's correlation for concurrent validity with blood pressure, HBP knowledge, and beliefs.

Main Results:

• EFA yielded an 8-item, one-factor solution explaining 35.4% of the variance.
• The HBMA-K scale demonstrated good reliability (Cronbach's alpha = .80).
• Significant correlations were found between HBMA-K scores and systolic BP (r=.18), diastolic BP (r=.24), HBP knowledge (r=-.13), and HBP beliefs (r=-.18).

Conclusions:

• The 8-item HBMA-K scale is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring medication adherence among Korean Americans with HBP.
• The scale is suitable for use in community and clinical settings to screen for low medication adherence.
• This validated tool can aid in targeted interventions for improving HBP management in Korean Americans.