Article

A simple single-item rating scale to measure medication adherence: further evidence for convergent validity.

Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA.
Journal of the International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care (JIAPAC) 8(6):367-74. DOI:10.1177/1545109709352884 pp.367-74
Source: PubMed

ABSTRACT Self-report measures of medication adherence are inexpensive and minimally intrusive. However, the validity of self-reported adherence is compromised by recall errors for missed doses and socially desirable responding.
Examined the convergent validity of 2 self-report adherence measures administered by computerized interview: (a) recall of missed doses and (b) a single-item visual analogue rating scale (VAS). Adherence was also monitored using unannounced phone-based pill counts that served as an objective benchmark.
The VAS obtained adherence estimates that paralleled unannounced pill counts (UPCs). In contrast, self-reported recall (SR-recall) of missed medications consistently overestimated adherence. Correlations with participant characteristics also suggested that the computer-administered VAS was less influenced by response biases than SR-recall of missed medication doses.
A single-item VAS offers an inexpensive and valid method of assessing medication adherence that may be useful in clinical as well as research settings.

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    Article: Suitability of measures of self-reported medication adherence for routine clinical use: a systematic review.
    Sara Garfield, Sarah Clifford, Lina Eliasson, Nick Barber, Alan Willson
    [show abstract] [hide abstract]
    ABSTRACT: There is a recognised need to build primary care medication adherence services which are tailored to patients' needs. Continuous quality improvement of such services requires a regular working method of measuring adherence in order to monitor effectiveness. Self report has been considered the method of choice for clinical use; it is cheap, relatively unobtrusive and able to distinguish between intentional and unintentional non-adherence, which have different underlying causes and therefore require different interventions. A self report adherence measure used in routine clinical practice would ideally be brief, acceptable to patients, valid, reliable, have the ability to distinguish between different types of non-adherence and be able to be completed by or in conjunction with carers where necessary. We systematically reviewed the literature in order to identify self report adherence measures currently available which are suitable for primary care and evaluate the extent to which they met the criteria described above. We searched the databases Medline, Embase, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, Pharmline, CINAHL, PsycINFO and HaPI to identify studies reporting the development, validation or reliability of generic adherence measures. One reviewer screened all abstracts and assessed all relevant full text articles obtained and a second reviewer screened/assessed 10% to check reliability. Fifty eight measures were identified. While validation data were presented in support of the vast majority of self reported measures (54/58), data for a relatively small number of measures was presented for reliability (16/58) and time to complete (3/58). Few were designed to have the ability to be completed by or in conjunction with carers and few were able to distinguish between different types of non-adherence, which limited their ability be used effectively in the continuous improvement of targeted adherence enhancing interventions. The data available suggested that patients find it easier to estimate general adherence than to report a specific number of doses missed. Visual analogue scales can be easier for patients than other types of scale but are not suitable for telephone administration. There is a need for a measure which can be used in the routine continual quality monitoring of adherence services.
    BMC Medical Research Methodology 11/2011; 11:149. · 2.67 Impact Factor
Data provided are for informational purposes only. Although carefully collected, accuracy cannot be guaranteed. The impact factor represents a rough estimation of the journal's impact factor and does not reflect the actual current impact factor. Publisher conditions are provided by RoMEO. Differing provisions from the publisher's actual policy or licence agreement may be applicable.

Keywords

2 self-report adherence measures
 
computer-administered VAS
 
convergent validity
 
desirable
 
medication adherence
 
medication doses
 
medications
 
objective benchmark
 
paralleled unannounced pill counts
 
participant characteristics
 
research settings
 
response biases
 
Self-report measures
 
self-reported
 
self-reported adherence
 
single-item VAS
 
single-item visual analogue rating scale
 
SR-recall
 
UPCs
 
valid method
 

Seth C Kalichman