Development of a health attitude scale

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Psychology
• Health Behavior Research

Background:

• Assessing patient attitudes is crucial for understanding adherence to medical regimens in cardiac disease management.
• Existing tools may not adequately capture the nuances of patient attitudes toward prescribed cardiac behaviors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate the Miller Attitude Scale for assessing attitudes of patients with cardiac disease.
• To examine the relationship between patient attitudes and adherence to medical regimens.

Main Methods:

• The Miller Attitude Scale was administered to two groups: 480 members of Mended Hearts, Inc., and 35 patients with a first myocardial infarction.
• The scale's validity and reliability were assessed using Spearman Rank Correlation and alpha reliabilities.
• Factor analysis was employed to understand the underlying structure of the scale.

Main Results:

• A significant relationship was found between patient attitudes and adherence behaviors for three of the five subscales.
• The scale demonstrated high internal consistency across all five subscales in both study groups.
• Factor analysis identified eight factors, with each of the five regimen behaviors defining a distinct factor.

Conclusions:

• The Miller Attitude Scale is a valid and reliable tool for assessing the attitudes of cardiac patients toward their prescribed medical regimen behaviors.
• The scale's findings support its use in clinical settings to improve patient adherence and outcomes in cardiac disease.