Journal: Scientific reports
This publication reports the development and initial validation of a questionnaire to measure medication literacy in patients receiving oral anticancer therapy.
Design and development:
- Semi-structured patient interviews and an expert focus group were used to generate questionnaire content.
- The initial instrument had two parts, each with four dimensions:
- Part A: self-assessed medication literacy.
- Part B: functional medication literacy.
- The draft was tested in a survey conducted in oncology practices and community pharmacies.
Psychometrics and structure:
- Factor analysis yielded a final instrument with 27 items across 7 dimensions.
- 307 patients on oral anticancer agents participated.
- Mean scores:
- Part A: 36.7/50.
- Part B: 11.7/17.
- Higher scores represented better medication literacy.
- Part A demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties.
- Part B showed insufficient internal consistency and requires further refinement.
Clinical relevance:
- Higher self-assessed medication literacy (Part A) was positively associated with quality of life and patient enablement.
- The self-assessment component could serve as:
- A patient-reported outcome measure in clinical and implementation studies.
- A screening tool to identify patients needing additional support with their oral anticancer medications.
- The functional literacy component is not yet ready for routine use and needs methodological improvement.