Towards the development of a tool to assess educational needs in patients with arthritis

Objective:

This article describes the initial development and testing of an educational needs assessment tool for patients with arthritis in the UK.

Design:

Following formative development of the tool, the study took the form of a test–retest questionnaire study. Participants were asked to complete the tool on two occasions, separated by two weeks, to assess reliability.

Setting:

Subjects were recruited from the out-patient department of a district general hospital in the north of England.

Participants:

The sample consisted of 97 patients with arthritis recruited consecutively from a rheumatology out-patient department.

Main outcome measures:

Scores from the questionnaire were the main outcome measure used. Additional variables included gender, age, educational level, and duration of disease.

Results:

The tool was well received by patients. Higher scores, indicating greater educational needs, were recorded by women, older people, those with lower levels of education, and those with shorter disease duration. The greatest educational needs were in the domain of information about arthritis itself. The tool demonstrated good test–retest reliability.

Conclusion:

The tool showed some validity and reliability, and was acceptable to patients. Further development work is needed if the tool is to be used in interventional studies.