Development of an Instrument to Measure Student Attitudes Concerning

This study was undertaken to develop a reliable and valid instrument to assess student attitudes toward pharmaceutical care. In February 1996, a 14-item instrument scale was developed and administered to all fourth year PharmD students at the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy (UGA). Based on the information obtained from the survey instrument administered, an enhanced 16-item instrument scale was created and administered to all first year pharmacy students at the UGA in April 1996. Completion of both surveys was voluntary, with a response rate of 83.3 percent (n=35) for fourth year professional pharmacy students and 95.2 percent (n=100) for first year professional pharmacy students. Reliability of the instrument scales was assessed by calculating Cronbach’s alpha, inspecting partial alphas of each item, and determining the item to total correlations. Construct validity of the scales was also assessed. Based on the analyses, a modified 13-item scale with three constructs proved to be reliable (Cronbach’s alpha of 0.90) and a valid instrument to assess students ’ attitudes toward pharmaceutical care