Healthcare Demand Procrastination Scale: Development and Validation Study

Abstract

Purpose: Maintaining a healthy life is the right of every individual. The important matter at this point is accepting early intervention without delaying healthcare demand and taking action for this intervention. Through this study, it was aimed to develop a measurement tool in order to determine the procrastination behavior for healthcare services demand among the individuals at the age of 18 and over.Methods: In the study, a questionnaire form that consists of the demographic variables (gender, age, marital status, education, chronic diseases, number of applications to the physician, access to physician, and health insurance) and informed consent was employed. Healthcare Demand Procrastination Scale (HDPS) was employed as well as the Health Seeking Behavior Scale (HSBS) for the validity of criteria. Analyses were conducted by SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) and AMOS (Analysis of Moment Structures).Results: No significant difference was found between the scores obtained through Kendall's test which was conducted in order to test the content validity of the scale. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed and as a result of the analysis, values of the goodness of fit were found normal and acceptable. HSBS was employed to ensure the criteria validity of the scale. A positive relationship was found between HDPS and traditional health-seeking behavior while there was a negative relationship with professional health-seeking behavior. In the Pearson correlation coefficient analysis which was conducted to reveal the correlation between test-retest scores, a statistically significant and positive relationship was observed between two measurements. Conclusions:As a result of the research, a scale which measures the healthcare demand procrastination behavior in Turkey was developed and validated. In addition, the healthcare procrastination behavior of individuals with a certain disease can also be examined through the developed scale.

The Relationship Between E-Health Literacy Level and Healthcare Demand Postponement Behavior

“…The internal consistency reliability coefficient (Cronbach's alpha) for this scale was calculated as 0.87 in the relevant study. Finally, the "Healthcare Demand Procrastination Scale" developed by Söyler et al 5 was administered. The scale involved 11 items.…”

“…This situation also includes the subdimensions of healthcare postponement behavior. 5 In other words, if an individual is ill or faces a health -threatening situation, they should immediately benefit from healthcare services. 6 There are some factors hindering individuals' demand for healthcare services.…”

The Effects of Health Beliefs on Cancer Screening and Distrust in Health Systems on Healthcare Demand Procrastination: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…In the first part of the questionnaire form, the "Healthcare Demand Procrastination Behavior Scale" was used. The scale was developed by Söyler et al 13 It is a 5point Likert-type scale and consists of three subdimensions and 11 items. The sub-dimensions of the scale are self/individual remedy search (3 items), avoidance (4 items), and not taking action (4 items).…”

“…12 Demand procrastination also leads to a delay in the demand for screening programs related to early diagnosis, which may cause health problems to progress. 13 Therefore, it may also delay diagnosing a critical disease such as cancer. In such a case, cancer survival rates are predicted to decrease.…”

Девіація Феномену Прокрастинації У Лікарів-Інтернів За Фахом "Анестезіологія" У Воєнний Час

“…Прокрастинація виникає не тільки як умова, що негативно впливає на здоров'я, але може характеризуватися як практика здоров'язберігаючої поведінки [26]. Зволікання не можна плутати із відпочинком.…”