Validity was assessed using the known-group comparison (229 with vs. 823 without chronic illness), item-domain correlations, and CFA using the ML estimation in LISREL.
Due to very low internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.26), the two diagnostic items were excluded and with the five illness items left constituting the Illness index (1), alpha increased to 0.44.
The 15 consultation content items (Table 1) were divided into three Content indices: The Somatic Index comprising the two diagnostic items (myomas and anemia) together with the five illness items (numbers 3 – 7).
Regarding the perception of causes of mental illness, items related to psychosocial perspectives including "life stress" and "interpersonal conflict" were rated highly by the respondents, whereas traditional beliefs including "punishment for misdeeds conducted by ancestors" and "demon possession" had the lowest ratings.
This suggests that the Social and Family Well-being scale is perhaps a two-factor scale with factors corresponding to family concerns, in particular emotional support from family, and family communication and acceptance of the illness (items SFWB1 to SFWB5), and another factor relating, primarily to close personal relationships (SFWB6 and SFWB7).
Of the 10,780 respondents, 27% believed taking antibiotics when they had a cold prevented more serious illness (survey item 2, Table 2), 32% believed taking antibiotics when they had a cold made them recover more quickly (survey item 3), and 48% expected a prescription for antibiotics when they were ill enough from a cold to seek medical attention (survey item 4).
Therefore, scores on the IPQ(b) illness severity item increased as the number of medicines prescribed increased.
The scale comprises of three sub scores which include discrimination (12 items), disclosure (11 items) and positive aspects of mental illness (5 items) [ 14].
These appeared to refer to: 1) attitudes of healthcare providers towards people with mental illness (7 items) 2) attitudes of healthcare providers towards disclosure of a mental illness (5 items).
