Changes in Patient Activation in a Self-Management Intervention

The purpose of this study was to compare results using individual change in level of patient activation measure (PAM) scores, individual point change scores, and group means in an outcome analysis. We evaluated changes in PAM scores (increase in level or increase of ≥5 points) to mean group PAM scores on patients who completed a self-management intervention compared with usual care on health care utilization and health-related quality of life. The sample was a subset of 91 multimorbid patients with complete data at completion of a self-management intervention. Results indicated that using a change in points allowed for more refined analysis of change compared with level changes; however, both individual measures were more reflective of actual change than group means. When tailoring interventions, we should consider using individual change scores. Further research is needed to evaluate how best to use PAM scores to measure the impact on clinical and health care outcomes.