Assessing community attitudes toward medical practitioner authority

0Citations
Citations of this article
5Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.
Get full text

Abstract

Abstract: Despite the widespread belief that medical authority is under increasing challenge, no adequate research instrument has been available to measure relevant community attitudes. This paper reports the development of the Attitude Toward Medical Practitioners Scale (the AMPS). Samples of Australians (in total N > 1000) completed the AMPS, using three different procedures. The reliability of the scale, assessed by coefficient alpha, ranged from 0.80 to 0.86. A principal component analysis of the AMPS yielded loadings on each item exceeding 0.3 on the first unrotated factor; subsequent varimax rotation revealed dimensions associated with critical attitudes to doctors and evaluations of doctors' interpersonal competence and technical expertise. Positive and significant correlations between the AMPS and one measure of the General Attitude toward Institutional Authority (GAIAS) strongly suggested that the scale is consistent with generalised evaluations of community authorities. The specific validity of the AMPS was supported for each of three samples, using as validating criteria respondent ratings of the last doctor visited, satisfaction with the consultation and reported compliance with the doctor's advice. Significant improvements were found in the prediction of each of these criteria by the addition of the AMPS to contributions made by the GAIAS and the demographic variables, age and sex. The AMPS is an appropriate measure for assessing community attitudes towards medical practitioners conceived as institutional authorities, at least in the Australian context. 1992 Public Health Association of Australia

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Rigby, K., & Metzer, J. C. (1992). Assessing community attitudes toward medical practitioner authority. Australian Journal of Public Health, 16(4), 403–412. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1753-6405.1992.tb00088.x

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free