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Measuring Comparative Risk Perceptions in an Urban Minority Population

The Risk Perception Survey for Diabetes

From the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Department of Medicine/Endocrinology Diabetes Research Center, Bronx, New York (Dr Walker, Dr Caban, Ms Blanco, Ms DeWitt, Ms Kalten, Ms Mera, Ms Mojica); Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Department of Family and Social Medicine, Bronx, New York (Dr Schechter); and Columbia University Teachers College, Department of Health Behavior, New York, New York (Dr Basch).

Correspondence to Elizabeth A. Walker, PhD, RN, CDE, Diabetes Research and Training Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY 10461 (walker{at}aecom.yu.edu).

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to assess comparative risk perceptions related to diabetes complications and their associations with patient characteristics in an urban minority sample.

Methods

The authors developed the Risk Perception Survey–Diabetes Mellitus (RPS-DM) and administered the survey using a Solomon Four group design with a random half of a sample of 599 adults with diabetes. This was the baseline survey to measure comparative risk perceptions in a multiethnic sample prior to implementation of randomly assigned behavioral interventions to improve diabetic retinopathy screening rates.

Results

The RPS-DM survey was completed by 250 participants (an 85% completion rate). Participants did not differ significantly by demographics from all other subjects. The sample included 62% women, mean age of 56.5 years, 42.4% Hispanic ethnicity, and 44% black race. The survey showed acceptable psychometric properties in English or Spanish and was feasible to complete by telephone in 12 to 15 minutes. Significant differences by subject characteristics were seen in several survey subscales, including Risk Knowledge by age (P .01) and annual income (P .05), Personal Control by educational level (P .05), and Optimistic Bias by birthplace (P .05) and educational level (P .01). An analysis of variance produced demographic models statistically significant (P < .05) for Risk Knowledge, Personal Control, Environmental Risk, and Optimistic Bias. From 13% to 16% of the variance in the subscale scores was explained by these demographic models.

Conclusions

The RPS-DM is the first instrument to measure comparative risk perceptions, including knowledge related to diabetes complications. These data are important for educators and researchers who wish to assess risk perceptions and tailor health/risk communications for their diabetes populations.

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