Concurrent validity of the Arabic version of General Medication Adherence Scale using two validated indirect adherences measures in Saudi patients with non-communicable diseases

Md Ashraful Islam; Zeb-Un- Nisa; Abdullah Isa Almuzel; Hani Sadiq Al Afif; Laila Hussain Al Rabia; Muhammad Shahid Iqbal; Azfar Athar Ishaqui; Muhammad Zahid Iqbal; Mohammad Akbar Hossain; Abdul Haseeb; Shazia Jamshed; Atta Abbas Naqvi; Sunil Kripalani

doi:10.1016/j.jsps.2021.07.002

Concurrent validity of the Arabic version of General Medication Adherence Scale using two validated indirect adherences measures in Saudi patients with non-communicable diseases

Saudi Pharm J. 2021 Aug;29(8):874-878. doi: 10.1016/j.jsps.2021.07.002. Epub 2021 Jul 15.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Clinical Pharmacy, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
² Faculty of Pharmacy, Ziauddin University, Karachi, Pakistan.
³ College of Clinical Pharmacy, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, Alkharj, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Department of Pharmacy, King Abdulaziz Hospital, National Guard Health Authority, Alahsa, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, AIMST University, Bedong, Malaysia.
⁷ Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Medicine, Umm Al Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
⁸ Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Umm Al Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
⁹ Department of Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, uniSZA, Kuala Terranganu, Malaysia.
¹⁰ Qualitative Research-Methodological Application in Health Sciences Research Group, Kulliyyah of Pharmacy, International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuantan, Malaysia.
¹¹ Center for Clinical Quality and Implementation Research, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the concurrent validity of the Arabic version of the General Medication Adherence Scale (GMAS) using two validated scales namely Adherence to Refills and Medications Scale (ARMS) and Medication Adherence Rating Scale (MARS) in Saudi patients with non-communicable diseases.

Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted for 2 months in out-patient departments at a tertiary care hospital in Khobar, Saudi Arabia. The study collected data from patients with chronic illnesses through convenience sampling. Pearson correlation (ρ) was conducted to report concurrent validity of GMAS. A correlation coefficient value ≥ 0.5 with p-value < 0.01 was considered threshold for establishing concurrent validity. The study was approved by an ethics committee (IRB-2019-05-002).

Results: A total of 406 patients responded to the study. The average age was 42.4 ± 5.94 years, and most patients were females (53.7%), married (70%), graduates (65.3%), employed (39.9%) and, had a monthly family income > SAR 10,000, i.e., USD 2666.2 (56.4%). The mean adherence scores obtained from MARS, ARMS and GMAS were 7.09, 19.9, and 27.4. The correlation (ρ) between GMAS and MARS scores was 0.65, and between GMAS and ARMS scores was -0.79, p < 0.01 for both comparisons.

Conclusion: The concurrent validity of GMAS-AR was established in this study that would further substantiate psychometric properties of the scale in this population.

Keywords: Adherence; Adherence to Refills and Medications scale (ARMS); General Medication Adherence Scale; Medication Adherence Rating Scale (MARS); Non-communicable diseases; Patients; Validation.