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Validation of the Group-Based Medical Mistrust Scale Among Urban Black Men

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ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND

Socioculturally relevant measures of medical mistrust are needed to better address health disparities, especially among Black men, a group with lower life expectancy and higher death rates compared to other race/gender groups.

OBJECTIVES

The study aim was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Group-Based Medical Mistrust Scale (GBMMS) in a Black male sample.

DESIGN

Data were collected as part of a randomized controlled trial testing educational strategies to support Black men’s decisions about prostate cancer screening.

PARTICIPANTS

Participants included 201 Black men ages 40–75 years recruited in New York City during 2006–2007.

MAIN MEASURES

The primary measures included: race-based medical mistrust, health care participation, avoidance of health care, perceived access to health care, health care satisfaction, racial identity, residential racial segregation, attitudes towards prostate cancer screening, and past prostate cancer screening behavior.

KEY RESULTS

An exploratory factor analysis suggested a three-factor structure. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the three-factor model. Internal consistency was high for the total GBMMS and the three sub-scales: Suspicion, Discrimination, and Lack of Support. Construct validity was supported by: significant positive correlations between GBMMS and avoidance of health care and racial identity as well as significant negative correlations with health care access, health care satisfaction, pt?>and attitudes about prostate cancer screening. ANOVA showed that the GBMMS was associated with greater residential racial segregation. Higher total GBMMS scores were associated with not visiting a physician in the last year and not having a regular physician.

CONCLUSIONS

The present findings provide strong additional evidence that the GBMMS is a valid and reliable measure that may be used among urban Black men.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Department of Defense Prostate Cancer Research Program, Award no. W81XWH-04-1-0026. Funding support for the lead author (RCS) was also provided through the Mount Sinai Program in Cancer Prevention and Control: Multidisciplinary Training (5R25-CA081137). A portion of these results were presented during a poster presentation at the Society of Behavioral Medicine Conference in April of 2009. We would like to thank the research interns who contributed their time to help complete this study.

Conflict of Interests

None disclosed

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oncological Science/Cancer Prevention and Control, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, 1425 Madison Avenue, Box 1130, New York, NY, 10029, USA

    Rachel C. Shelton ScD, MPH

  2. The Graduate Center, The City University of New York, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, USA

    Gary Winkel PhD

  3. Department of Public Health, Ritter Annex, Temple University, 9th Floor, 004-09, 1301 Cecil B. Moore Avenue, Philadelphia, PA, 19122-6091, USA

    Stacy N. Davis MPH

  4. Jack and Pearl Resnick Campus, Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue; Belfer, 13th Floor, Bronx, NY, 10461, USA

    Nicole Roberts MPH & Hayley S. Thompson PhD

  5. School of Health and Education, Reykjavik University, Ofnleiti 2, 103, Reykjavik, Iceland

    Heiddis Valdimarsdottir PhD

  6. Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Deane Prostate Health and Research Center, 5 East 98th Street, 6th Floor, New York, NY, 10029, USA

    Simon J. Hall MD

Authors
  1. Rachel C. Shelton ScD, MPH
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  2. Gary Winkel PhD
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Correspondence to Rachel C. Shelton ScD, MPH.

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Shelton, R.C., Winkel, G., Davis, S.N. et al. Validation of the Group-Based Medical Mistrust Scale Among Urban Black Men. J GEN INTERN MED 25, 549–555 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-010-1288-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-010-1288-y

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