A COMPARISON OF THE DIMENSIONS OF HEALTH LOCUS-OF-CONTROL BELIEFS AND HEALTH VALUE BETWEEN EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT PATIENTS AND CLINIC PATIENTS SEEKING CARE FOR NONURGENT CONDITIONS.
Contributors: Catholic University of America.
Published: 1993
Number of pages: 146
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: Use of emergency departments as a primary source of health care has become a major problem. Patients accessing this avenue for care are subject to decreased continuity of care, lack of adequate follow-up, insufficient patient education and unmet needs.

This study measured dimensions of health locus of control and health value between emergency department patients and clinic patients seeking care for nonurgent conditions. The dependent variables were scores on the three scales of the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale (MHLC) and the Health Value Scale (HVS). The independent variable was the setting in which patients were seeking care for nonurgent conditions. Four research hypotheses were tested to determine differences in locus of control and health value with setting choice.

A non-equivalent control group ex post facto design was used. The study was conducted in a small rural community in West Virginia and data were collected in a community health clinic and community hospital emergency department. Purposive sampling was used to obtain 55 subjects in each group.

After agreeing to participate in the study, subjects completed the MHLC, the HVS, and a demographic data form. The MHLC consisted of three 6-item scales measuring internality, chance externality and powerful others externality. Three scores were obtained with possible ranges of 1 to 36 points. The HVS consisted of a list of ten values that subjects ranked in order of importance. Reliability coefficients were low for the MHLC scales (alpha =.69,.66 and.56 respectively) but the item to scale correlations ranged from 0.3 to 0.73. The HVS had a reliability coefficient of 0.97.

Descriptive statistics were used to summarize demographic data. Multivariate analysis of variance was used to test the research hypotheses at an alpha level of 0.05. Neither the dimensions of health locus of control nor health value significantly explained the choice of setting for health care.

Significant positive relationships were demonstrated between education and internal locus of control and between chance control (externality) and powerful other control (externality). There was also a significant inverse relationship between education and chance influence control.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-02, Section: B, page: 0741.

Thesis (D.N.SC.)--THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA, 1993.

School code: 0043.