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

In this study, weemployed classical test theory (CTT) to develop and validate a concise, abbreviated version of the Tuberculosis Medication Adherence Scale (TBMAS-SF). This shortened version aims to provide a more efficient measurement tool for tuberculosis patients while maintaining acceptable psychometric properties.

A survey of tuberculosis patients undergoing treatment at the Heilongjiang Provincial Institute of Infectious Disease Control and Prevention was conducted using convenient sampling and the TBMAS. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 26.0 and Amos 24.0. A total of 496 questionnaires were distributed in this study, with 404 valid responses collected, resulting in a valid response rate of 81.45%.

The analysis revealed that the TBMAS-SF demonstrated acceptable reliability, with a Cronbach's α coefficient of 0.931 and a split-half reliability of 0.739. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the TBMAS-SF demonstrated acceptable comparative fit but suboptimal absolute fit, with a chi-square degrees of freedom ratio of 4.981, RMSEA = 0.141, RMR = 0.014 (which is less than 0.05), CFI and IFI values exceeding 0.9, and NFI and TLI values approaching 0.9. There was a statistically significant but modest positive correlation between the TBMAS-SF score and medication literacy score (r = 0.228, p < 0.01), suggesting limited but acceptable empirical validity.

The TBMAS-SF demonstrates acceptable internal consistency and promising construct validity, though suboptimal absolute fit indices warrant further refinement and cross-validation.