Development and validation of a short-form Tuberculosis Medication Adherence Scale (TBMAS-SF).

Area of Science:

• Medical Research
• Psychometrics
• Public Health

Background:

• Developing efficient measurement tools is crucial for managing tuberculosis.
• The original Tuberculosis Medication Adherence Scale (TBMAS) has been abbreviated to create a more concise version.
• Classical Test Theory (CTT) principles guided the development and validation process.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a concise, abbreviated Tuberculosis Medication Adherence Scale (TBMAS-SF).
• To provide a more efficient measurement tool for tuberculosis patients.
• To ensure the shortened scale maintains acceptable psychometric properties.

Main Methods:

• A survey was conducted with tuberculosis patients at the Heilongjiang Provincial Institute of Infectious Disease Control and Prevention.
• Convenient sampling and the TBMAS were used for data collection.
• Data were analyzed using SPSS 26.0 and Amos 24.0, with 404 valid responses from 496 distributed questionnaires (81.45% response rate).

Main Results:

• The TBMAS-SF demonstrated acceptable reliability (Cronbach's α = 0.931, split-half = 0.739).
• Confirmatory factor analysis indicated acceptable comparative fit but suboptimal absolute fit indices.
• A modest positive correlation was found between TBMAS-SF scores and medication literacy (r=0.228, p<0.01), suggesting acceptable empirical validity.

Conclusions:

• The TBMAS-SF exhibits acceptable internal consistency and promising construct validity.
• Suboptimal absolute fit indices suggest that further refinement and cross-validation are necessary.
• The abbreviated scale offers a potentially more efficient tool for assessing medication adherence in tuberculosis patients.