| The development of the Self-Medicating Scale (SMS): a scale to measure people's beliefs about self-medication. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 18516701 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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OBJECTIVE: We describe the development of a reliable and valid measure of people's beliefs about self-medication. To achieve this, student self-medication beliefs and behaviours in response to acute pain were investigated. Specific objectives were to establish the internal reliability plus content and construct validity of this scale. METHOD: The nine item 'Self-Medicating Scale (SMS)' was developed following one to one interviews conducted with a purposive sample of 10 lay people in 2001 to explore their self-medicating beliefs and behaviour. The SMS was completed by 304 undergraduate pharmacy students in March 2006, along with measures of self-reported over the counter (OTC) analgesic use, pain severity and other non-pharmacological methods of pain relief, using a cross-sectional design. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted on SMS items using Maximum Likelihood extraction and Varimax rotation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Factor structure of the SMS and relationships between SMS scales and medication-taking behaviour. RESULTS: Factor analysis of the SMS revealed three factor structures which were named 'Reluctance', 'Don't think twice' and 'Run its course' (each three item scales with good Cronbach's alpha 0.82, 0.77 and 0.75 respectively). Of the 304 respondents, 93% reported having experienced pain over the past month and nearly three quarters of these indicated that they had self-medicated with OTC analgesics (mean 10.8 doses). Statistically significant differences or associations were found in all three SMS scores and each of the main outcome variables i.e. whether or not analgesics were taken, number of doses of OTC analgesics taken and number of non-pharmacological remedies tried. CONCLUSIONS: These results show that the SMS possesses good internal reliability, plus good content and construct validity indicating that it is a useful measure of self-medication beliefs. More work is needed to extend these findings to the wider general public and with other OTC medications. |
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Authors:
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Delyth H James; David P French |
Publication Detail:
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Type: Journal Article; Validation Studies Date: 2008-05-31 |
Journal Detail:
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Title: Pharmacy world & science : PWS Volume: 30 ISSN: 0928-1231 ISO Abbreviation: Pharm World Sci Publication Date: 2008 Dec |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2008-11-18 Completed Date: 2009-02-19 Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 9307352 Medline TA: Pharm World Sci Country: Netherlands |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 794-800 Citation Subset: IM |
Affiliation:
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Welsh School of Pharmacy, Cardiff University, Redwood Building, King Edward VIIth Avenue, Cardiff CF10 3XF, UK. jamesdh@cf.ac.uk |
Export Citation:
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| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
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Adolescent Adult Analgesics / therapeutic use Cross-Sectional Studies Factor Analysis, Statistical Female Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice* Humans Likelihood Functions Male Nonprescription Drugs / therapeutic use Pain / drug therapy Psychometrics Questionnaires* Reproducibility of Results Self Medication / psychology* Young Adult |
| Chemical | |
Reg. No./Substance:
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0/Analgesics; 0/Nonprescription Drugs |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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