Development and validation of the Decisional Balance Scale for problematic Prescription Drug use (DBS-PD)-20

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop a Decisional Balance Scale (DBS) for Prescription Drugs (PD), the DBS-PD-20, to examine its factorial structure and test its reliability and external validity by comparison across Stages of Change. A sample of 126 general hospital inpatients with either regular use of PD (more than 60days within the last three months) or abuse of or dependence on PD was recruited in a northern German city. Exploratory principal components analysis revealed a two-factor structure, the Pros and Cons of PD intake, as expected. While the DBS-PD-20 showed good reliability (Cronbach's alpha=0.91 for the Pros and=0.89 for the Cons), external validity could be proven for the Cons (significant increase from precontemplation to contemplation/action), whereas the Pros showed an insignificant increase. Although further validation is needed, the DBS-PD-20 may be helpful for interventions and research.