Does the Partners in Health scale allow meaningful comparisons of chronic condition self‐management between men and women? Testing measurement invariance

Abstract

Aims To determine if the Partners in Health scale, pertinent to assessing patient chronic condition self‐management, operates equivalently for men and women. Background There are distinct gender‐based differences in self‐management behaviours and health perceptions. This may introduce non‐invariance in self‐report measures. Testing of measurement invariance is a recommended practice in nursing science to ensure robust metrics. Design A representative cross‐sectional population survey in South Australian. Method In 2014, 940 people responded to the South Australian Health Omnibus Survey, a battery of health‐related questions. MI and estimation of heterogeneity was tested using Bayesian confirmatory factor analysis. Results Findings showed self‐management constructs were interpreted equivalently between men and women. Observed population heterogeneity associated lower education levels with poorer illness and treatment knowledge, smokers with poorer treatment partnerships and mental health problems with lower coping capacity. Conclusion Approximate measurement invariance was achieved between men and women for Partners in Health scale. Impact There is a lack of well‐validated generic instruments, including investigation into gender variability, for measuring chronic condition self‐management behaviours. Lower education levels were found to connect with poorer knowledge of health condition and treatment. Mental health problems attenuated ability to cope with the effect of the condition. Findings can facilitate the development of better tailored interventions for self‐management of patients’ chronic condition/s.

Effects of sociodemographic and health factors on the self-management of non-communicable diseases among Chilean adults during the Covid-19 pandemic

“…In this study self-reported gender was not significantly associated with SMM or its dimensions, which suggests that self-perception of practices, knowledge and experiences learned from living with a condition are not mediated by gender perception [48]. The effect of gender on NCD self-management is not consistent and some studies have observed significant associations [39,41,49,50] while others have not [43,51,52], or an association that is exclusive to specific dimensions [38]. An explanation for these disparities in findings could be attributed to different cultural expectations associated with gender roles in the countries where studies were conducted.…”

“…In the present study, age, years of schooling level, number of diseases and self-rated health status were significantly associated with SMM, DK, SMDR, and MDM. These variables have been used in other research [38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45] aiming to understand the short-term modifiable effects on self-management.…”

“…These results are consistent with previous studies, which found that self-rated health status is a variable significantly PLOS GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH associated with other health indicators. Smith et al [43] demonstrated that self-rated health was significantly associated with self-management measured with the PIH scale. The authors concluded that the probability of having high self-management is greater if the participant has a good or excellent self-rated health status.…”

“…Both studies aim at social and cultural differences that are involved in NCD self-management. The different ways that men and women address their own health has been acknowledged and studied [43] and WHO [53] acknowledges the effect of gender on general health. Health practices and behaviors can be understood as activities built in association with gender roles [54,55].…”