DEVELOPMENT OF THE PERCEIVED VALUE OF SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE IN HEALTH (VSE-H) SCALE

Purpose: A key goal of policies supporting comparative effectiveness research is the communication of results to the public.  However, the level of awareness and interest among the public regarding scientific evidence in health is not known.  The goals of this study are 1) to develop scale of the perceived value of scientific evidence in health (VSE-H), and 2) to describe socio-demographic and psychosocial predictors of VSE-H among an urban primary care population.

Method:   Focus groups conducted in an urban primary care population informed the development of candidate items for VSE-H scale. Psychometric data was obtained on a random sample of the target population. Baseline assessments included socio-demographic factors, health literacy, subjective health numeracy, religious affiliation, religiosity, and health care system distrust. Item level and principal component factor analysis were used to construct a13 item scale. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to explore individual factors associated with VSE-H.

Result: Of 300 participants 58% were men, 66% were black, and 46% had less than a high school reading level.  The scale demonstrated high internal reliability (Cronbach's alpha: 0.93).   Principal component factor analysis revealed 3 domains: value of details about studies that lead to health and treatment recommendations, importance of general health information, and importance of being up on treatment guidelines. The median composite VSE-H score was 3.92 with a potential range of 1 (not at all important) to 5 (extremely important).  In bivariate analysis, white race, female gender, higher numeracy, education, print literacy, and religiosity were associated with higher composite VSE-scores.  Health care system distrust was associated with lower composite VSE-H scores.  In multivariate analysis, older age (p=0.031), health numeracy (p=0.006), education (p<0.001), print literacy (p=0.013), intrinsic religiosity (p=0.008), and lower competence distrust (p=0.023) were associated with higher VSE-H scores.  On the subscale indicating interest in details of scientific studies (such as statistics, quality, study population, randomization, and study funder), predictors of VSE-H scores were higher subjective numeracy (p=0.016), education (p<0.001), print health literacy (p<0.001), and lower competence distrust (p=0.039).

Conclusion: We report the development of a scale to measure the value patients attribute to information regarding scientific evidence in health.  Insights regarding the type and level of detail of scientific information valued by patients can inform targeted and tailored communication strategies for comparative effectiveness research findings.