The Development and Testing of a Tool to Measure Medication Knowledge in a Heart Failure Patient Population.

Abstract

Introduction:
Heart failure is a chronic condition requiring complex pharmacological management to improve symptoms, reduce hospitalisation, and prolong survival. Adequate patient understanding of prescribed medication is a critical component of effective self-management. However, no validated tool specifically designed to measure medication knowledge in a heart failure population has been widely adopted in United Kingdom primary care.
Aim:
This study aimed to develop and undertake initial psychometric testing of a tool to measure medication knowledge in patients with heart failure.
Methods:
A multi-stage development process was undertaken, including a review of the literature, item generation informed by current heart failure pharmacotherapy guidelines, review by a cardiac patient and public involvement group, and expert panel evaluation. The final interviewer-administered questionnaire was implemented in a single primary care site in the South of England. Participants (n=33) completed the tool, generating an individual medication knowledge score. Internal consistency reliability was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha. Descriptive statistics and correlational analyses were conducted to examine associations between knowledge scores and demographic and clinical variables.
Results:
The majority of participants demonstrated low levels of heart failure medication knowledge. Knowledge scores were not significantly associated with gender, age, educational attainment, years since diagnosis, left ventricular ejection fraction, or New York Heart Association classification (p > 0.05). Internal consistency analysis indicated that reliability was near to the acceptable threshold (= 0.62). Participants showed greater understanding of the general purpose and monitoring requirements of heart failure medication than of class-specific mechanisms and side-effects.
Conclusion:
This study presents the development and initial testing of a structured instrument to measure heart failure medication knowledge in a primary care population. Findings suggest the tool demonstrates moderate internal consistency and provides a practical method for identifying patients with limited medication understanding. The instrument offers potential to support targeted educational interventions aimed at improving self-management and, ultimately, patient outcomes. Further multi-site validation is recommended to establish broader generalisability and construct validity.

Date of Award	12 Jun 2026
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Portsmouth
Supervisor	Paul Rutter (Supervisor) & Jane Caroline Portlock (Supervisor)