INFLUENCE OF PARENTAL HEALTH BELIEFS ON FOLLOW-THROUGH ON SCHOOL NURSES' SPINAL SCREENING REFERRALS.
Contributors: University of Texas at Austin.
Published: 1990
Number of pages: 204
Subjects: Education, Health.; Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: This exploratory study examined parents' health perceptions and modifying factors for associations with referral completion from school-based screening for spinal curvature in students ages 11 to 15 years. The retrospective survey design utilized a questionnaire based on the Health Belief Model. Subjects were 100 mothers and fathers in three Texas school district communities and who completed and returned a mailed questionnaire.

The dependent variable was membership in one of two referral follow-through status groups. Referral follow-through was defined as securing an examination for one's child within three months of a referral for possible spinal curve. Thirty percent of the respondents self-reported no follow-through action.

The independent variables were: demographic factors, social contacts, resources for medical care, knowledge about spinal curve, contacts with school nurse as cues to action, and selected health beliefs.

Internal consistency of health belief measures, i.e. seriousness of spinal curves, benefits of follow-through, and barriers to action, was calculated with Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Reliability coefficients ranged from.570 to.648, considered modest for exploratory work.

Chi-square and $t$ tests identified associations between follow-through status and non-belief variables. Follow-through on spinal screening referrals was associated with advice from family or other social contacts to act promptly, having a usual source of medical care for checkups, greater comparable worry about a possible spinal curve, greater sense or urgency for the referral compared to other family needs, the child's overall good health status, and agreement with previous referrals by school nurses.

The belief variables and the factors associated with follow-through group membership were utilized in a stepwise discriminant function analysis to attempt to distinguish between the two referral outcome groups. Two factors, perceived comparable urgency and the child's overall health status rating, correctly classified 73% of the cases. Correct classification of non-follow-through was 86%. The health beliefs failed to enter the analysis due to insufficient significance.

Findings suggest directions for a prospective inquiry to predict the likelihood of parents' actions to complete school nurses' screening referrals within three months. Alternative models to guide study design are considered.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-06, Section: A, page: 1916.

Thesis (PH.D.)--THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN, 1990.

School code: 0227.