Psychometric Properties of the Turkish Medical Maximizer-Minimizer Scale

Area of Science:

• Psychometric validation
• Healthcare decision-making
• Cross-cultural adaptation

Background:

• The Medical Maximizer-Minimizer Scale (MMS) assesses patient decision-making styles.
• Adapting and validating the MMS in Turkish is crucial for understanding local healthcare behaviors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To translate and validate the MMS into Turkish.
• To evaluate its psychometric properties, including factorial structure, reliability, measurement invariance, and construct validity.

Main Methods:

• 511 Turkish adults completed the Turkish MMS, healthcare trust, utilization, and quality of life measures.
• Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (EFA, CFA), including exploratory graph analysis (EGA), were used.
• Measurement invariance and construct validity were assessed.

Main Results:

• A nine-item Turkish MMS was developed after excluding one item.
• A stable two-dimensional bifactor structure was identified with high reliability (α =0.78).
• The scale demonstrated measurement invariance across demographic groups and supported construct validity.

Conclusions:

• The nine-item Turkish MMS is a psychometrically sound instrument.
• It effectively measures general and specific healthcare orientations in Turkish populations.
• The validated scale can inform research on healthcare utilization and patient-centered communication.