ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: We present psychometric properties of 9 health and psychosocial measures in a sample of hospitalized women with cardiovascular disease. This information will be useful to others needing to make choices about selection of health and psychosocial measurements in women smokers. METHODS: Psychometric properties were examined using baseline measures from a cross-sectional study, nested within a randomized clinic trial, Women's Initiative for Non-Smoking. Women smokers hospitalized with cardiovascular disease were recruited from 10 hospitals in the San Francisco Bay Area. Measures included the perceived stress scale, a depression screener, self-efficacy, the sense of mastery scale, and measures of health-related quality of life from the Medical Outcomes Study. RESULTS: The sample of 277 women smokers ranged in age from 34 to 86 years (mean = 61 +/- 10.1). Studies of variability, including floor/ceiling effects, skewness, range, mean, and SD, indicated that most measures had sufficient variability to be predictive and detect both positive and negative changes over time. Internal-consistency reliabilities ranged from 0.63 to 0.86. Preliminary evidence of construct validity was found, with most hypotheses being confirmed. CONCLUSIONS: The battery of tests included in the Women's Initiative for Non-Smoking trial may be useful in identifying women at high risk of relapse and in detecting short-term quality-of-life outcomes. The measures generally performed well and show promise for advancing our understanding of the process of successful smoking cessation in this population. SUMMARY: Psychometric properties of the perceived stress scale, a depression screener, self-efficacy for quitting smoking, the sense of mastery scale, and measures of health-related quality of life from the Medical Outcomes Study in 277 women smokers hospitalized with cardiovascular disease were examined. The measures generally performed well and show promise for advancing our understanding of smokers in this population.
