DEVELOPMENT OF A BENEFITS AND BARRIERS SCALE FOR MAMMOGRAPHY UTILIZATION

The purpose of this study was to refine scales to measure Health Belie f Model concepts of benefits and barriers using the context of mammogr aphy screening. Both scales used a summated Likert format with five re sponse options. Items were first subjected to content analysis by nati onal experts. Data were then collected from a random sample of 581 wom en who were 35 years or over. Retest data were gathered on a subset of women similar to 4-6 weeks later. Construct validity was established using confirmatory factor analysis and exploratory factor analysis wit h results confirming independence of constructs. Construct validity wa s also tested by developing hypotheses based on theoretical relationsh ips. Cronbach alpha reliability coefficients for the benefits scale wa s 0.79 and for the barriers scale was 0.73. Suggestions for further re visions are offered.