Development of the scale for measuring fear from hepatitis B infection

• Main Author: Tomić Sanja
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Medicinsko društvo za racionalnu terapiju Republike Srbije 2016-01-01
• Series: Racionalna Terapija
• Subjects: hepatitis B virus infection; fear; students; development; validation; questionnaire
• Online Access: http://scindeks-clanci.ceon.rs/data/pdf/1821-0538/2016/1821-05381601011T.pdf

Introduction: Hepatitis B is a serious disease with severe clinical course, which can lead to liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. The causative agent of hepatitis B is the hepatitis B virus. It is estimated that about 2 billion people are infected with HBV and 350 million people have chronic hepatitis B. Objective: The main objective of this study was to examine the reliability and applicability of this questionnaire, as an instrument for testing fear from infection with hepatitis B virus in pharmacy students. Materials and Methods: The study was of cross-sectional type. Questions were made after searching relevant literature and databases. Reliability analysis of the questionnaire was made by calculation of the Cronbach's alpha coefficient, mean and variance of responses to the questions. A factor analysis was also carried out. Results: A total of 311 subjects from all years of pharmacy course participated in the study. The population consisted of 80.4% females and 19.6% males, at the age of 21 years. The obtained value of Cronbach alpha after statistical processing amounted to 0.803. The exploratory factor analysis of the data revealed the four factors. Conclusions: The results of this study have shown good measuring characteristics of the questionnaire, as well as some weaknesses. Cronbach's alpha value indicates reliability of questionnaire, but it is only partially applicable because of non homogeneity. Therefore, further research is needed to correct the deficiencies of the questionnaire.