Development and validation of the General attitude towards Medication Questionnaire (GAMQ)

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Pharmacology
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Medication attitudes influence treatment outcomes and adherence via placebo/nocebo effects.
• A lack of validated questionnaires for general medication attitudes exists.
• The General Attitude towards Medication Questionnaire (GAMQ) was developed to address this gap.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a comprehensive questionnaire assessing general attitudes towards medication.
• To evaluate the psychometric properties of the GAMQ across diverse populations.

Main Methods:

• Items were selected and adapted from existing questionnaires by expert consensus.
• Validation involved four samples: general population (n=787) and patients (rheumatoid arthritis, n=121; atopic dermatitis, n=70).
• Psychometric properties assessed included factor structure, internal consistency, and convergent validity.

Main Results:

• The GAMQ comprises 6 positive and 6 negative items across three subscales: Trust, Concerns, and Reluctance.
• Satisfactory factor structure fit was observed across samples.
• The scale demonstrated good internal consistency, convergent validity with related measures, and concurrent validity with medication expectations.

Conclusions:

• The GAMQ is a novel, psychometrically sound instrument for assessing both positive and negative general medication attitudes.
• It provides indicators of Trust, Concerns, and Reluctance towards medication.
• The GAMQ is a valuable tool for predicting treatment outcomes, adherence, and placebo/nocebo effects in diverse settings.