Abstract

Background

Low rate of adherence was found strongly associated with patients’ beliefs across the studies about chronic diseases with hypertension. A crucial move is needed to bridge the gap between appropriate assessment tools and local hypertensive patients’ medication adherence.

Objective

To produce a translated version in Malay language of Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire (BMQ) that was “conceptually equivalent” to the original English version for use in local clinical practice and research.

Methods

The forward translation process was conducted by two independent professional translators and back translation was done by two other independent translators. A reliability analysis was conducted on 238 conveniently selected hypertensive patients. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to assess test-retest reliability for the randomly selected 40 patients in a period of 2 weeks. Discriminant validity was tested through Necessity-Concerns differential, BMQ subscales, and other parameters.

Results

The overall Cronbach alpha for the internal consistency was good (0.860). The subscales of the BMQ demonstrated adequate internal consistency, with Cronbach alpha value of 0.759 for Specific-Necessity, 0.762 for Specific Concern, 0.624 for General-Overuse, and 0.756 for General-Harm. The ICC was excellent (0.922). Discriminant validity revealed that BMQ Specific-Necessity score was significantly inversely correlated with the systolic blood pressure level. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels (P = 0.038; P = 0.05) were reported to be significantly correlated with the Necessity-Concerns differential, with Necessity score equal or exceeding Concerns score.

Conclusions

The Malay-translated version of BMQ is a reliable and valid tool to assess patient belief about medication, especially medication adherence among the hypertensive patients in Malaysia.