Date of Graduation

2005

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore protection motivation theory's (PMT) utility in guiding research in a general orthopedic rehabilitation facility. Further questions were whether a screening incorporating the Sports Injury Rehabilitation Beliefs Scale (SIRBS), Positive and Negative Affect Scales (PANAS), and a barriers checklist, and/or physical therapists' (PTs') perceptions were valid measures that could predict patients' adherence behavior. Adherence behavior was measured using the Sports Injury Rehabilitation Adherence Scale (SIRAS) and attendance behavior groupings which were classified as drop out/no drop out, no show/non no show, and cancellation/no cancellation. This study was conducted in a community sports medicine rehabilitation clinic. Patients (n = 229) sustained injuries from sport, work, and activities of daily living, and were prescribed 4–8 weeks of rehabilitation. The screening had good psychometric properties and was user friendly; however it was not able to predict adherence. These results do not closely support previous research with PMT in more homogenous samples where coping appraisals accounted for substantial variance in adherence behavior (Brewer et al., 2003; Taylor & May, 1996). Differences in sampling and measurement likely contributed to disparities in these results; however the discussion raises questions into PMT and the SIRBS' utility in orthopedic rehabilitation settings. PTs' predictions were assessed using a modified version of the SIRAS as well as classifying patients as ‘adherent’ or ‘non adherent’. Their predictions related to assessments of adherence behavior as measured by SIRAS assessment scores, as well as differentiating those who were adherent, from non adherent, for all three behavior groupings. Hierarchical multiple regressions revealed that PTs' predictions accounted for 25% of the variance in SIRAS assessment scores. PTs were also accurate in predicting ‘adherence’ 76% of the time; however their biggest error laid in over-predicting ‘non adherence’. These findings shed light into the potential for PTs to predict adherence behavior, as well as the potential use of the SIRAS as a predictive measure. The practical implications of these findings in relation to PMT, future research, and interventions are discussed.

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