Epistemological beliefs about medical knowledge: Do they play a role in patients’ behaviour?

Journal title RICERCHE DI PSICOLOGIA
Author/s Alessandro Antonietti, Manuela Cantoia
Publishing Year 2015 Issue 2014/2
Language Italian Pages 20 P. 341-360 File size 226 KB
DOI 10.3280/RIP2014-002010
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

The study involved 84 adults who were administered three self-report questionnaires: the "Questionnaire on Epistemological Beliefs in Medicine" (Antonietti & Ferraro, 2013), the adapted version of the "How I know" questionnaire aimed at assessing contextualised epistemological beliefs (Antonietti & Ferraro, 2013) and a questionnaire to assess the level of health literacy. Participants were divided in subgroups according to their age, level of instruction, medical literacy, and individual medical experiences in the last 5 years. Analyses showed that the level of instruction was related to epistemological beliefs: graduated participants were more likely to share a relativistic view. Participants with recent hospital experiences were more absolutist. No effect neither of age nor of specific domain knowledge emerged. Perspectives on health literacy and the status of the knowledge involved in relations between health professionals and patients are discussed.

Keywords: Epistemological beliefs, health literacy

  1. Nisbett, R.E., & Ross, L. (1980). Human inference: Strategies and shortcomings of social judgment. Century Psychology Series. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
  2. Antonietti, A., & Ferraro, V. (2013). Come conosco - Versione medica.
  3. Antonietti, A., & Ferraro, V. (2013). Questionario sulle Credenze Epistemologiche in Medicina (QUCEM).
  4. Arozullah, A.M., Lee, S.D., Khan, T., Kurup, S., Ryan, S., Bonner, M., Soltysik, R., & Yarnold, P.R. (2006). The Roles of Low Literacy and Social Support in Predicting the Preventability of Hospital Admission. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 21, 140-145. DOI: 10.1111/j.1525-1497.2005.00300.x
  5. Baker, D.W. (2006). The meaning and the measure of health literacy. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 21, 878-883. DOI: 10.1111/j.1525-1497.2006.00540.x
  6. Baker, D.W., Gazmararian, J.A., Williams, M.V., Scott, T., Parker, R.M., & Green, D., et al. (2004). Health literacy and the use of outpatient physician services by Medicare managed care enrolees. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 19, 215-220. DOI: 10.1111/j.1525-1497.2004.21130.x
  7. Baker, D. W., Parker, R. M., Williams, M. V., & Clark, W. S. (1998). Health literacy and the risk of hospital admission. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 13, 791-798. DOI: 10.1046/j.1525-1497.1998.00242.x
  8. Baker, D.W., Parker, R.M., Williams, M.V., Clark, W.S., & Nurss, J. (1997). The relationship of patient reading ability to self-reported health use of health service. American Journal of Public Health, 87, 1027-1030. DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.87.6.1027
  9. Bass, P.F., Wilson, J.F., & Griffith, C.H. (2003). A shortened instrument for literacy screening. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 18, 1036-1038. DOI: 10.1111/j.1525-1497.2003.10651.x
  10. Bromme, R., Thomm, E., & Wolf, V. (2013). From understanding to deference: Laypersons’ and medical students’ views on conflicts within medicine. International Journal of Science Education, Part B. Communication and Public Engagement. DOI: 10.1080/21548455.2013.849017
  11. Cantoia, M. (2012). “Fumare e come”. Le credenze sul fumo degli studenti di scuola superiore. Ricerche di Psicologia, 4, 605-620. DOI: 10.3280/RIP2012-004002.
  12. Cho, Y.I., Lee, S.D., Arozullah, A.M., & Crittenden, K.S. (2008). Effects of health literacy on health status and health service utilization amongst the elderly. Social Science & Medicine, 66, 1809-1816. DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2008.01.003
  13. Davis, T.C., Long, S.W., Jackson, R.H., Mayeaux, E.J., George, R.B., Murphy, P.W., et al. (1993). Rapid estimate of adult literacy in medicine: A shortened screening instrument. Family Medicine, 25, 391-395.
  14. Fay, B. (1996). Contemporary philosophy of social science: A multicultural approach. Oxford, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Blackwell.
  15. Hawthorne, G. (1996). Preteenage drug use in Australia: the key predictors and school-based education. Journal of Adolescent Health, 20, 384-395. DOI: 10.1016/S1054-139X(96)00181-4
  16. Herman, A., & Jackson, P. (2010). Empowering Low-Income Parents with Skills to Reduce Excess Pediatric Emergency Room and Clinic Visits through a Tailored Low Literacy Training Intervention. Journal of Health Communication, 15, 895-910. DOI: 10.1080/10810730.2010.522228
  17. Hofer, B.K. (2000). Dimensionality and disciplinary differences in personal epistemology. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25, 378-405. DOI: 10.1006/ceps.1999.1026
  18. Hofer, B.K. (2004). Epistemological understanding as a metacognitive process: thinking aloud during online searching. Educational Psychology, 39, 43-55. DOI: 10.1207/s15326985ep3901_5
  19. Kalichman, S.C., Benotsch, E., Suarez, E.T., Catz, S., Miller, J., & Rompa, D. (2000). Health literacy and health related knowledge among persons living with HIV/AIDS. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 18, 325-331. DOI: 10.1016/S0749-3797(00)00121-5
  20. Kienhues, D., & Bromme, R. (2012). Exploring laypeople’s epistemic beliefs about medicine: A factor-analytic survey study. BMC Public Health, 12, 759. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2458-12-759
  21. Lee, S.D., Arozullah, A.M., & Cho, Y.I. (2004). Health literacy, social support, and health: a research agenda. Social Science & Medicine, 58, 1309-1321. DOI: 10.1016/S0277-9536(03)00329-0
  22. Lindau, S.T., Tomori, C., Lyons, T., Langseth, L., Bennet, C.L., & Garcia, P. (2002). The association of health literacy with cervical cancer prevention knowledge and health behaviors in a multi-ethnic cohort of women. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 186, 938-943. DOI: 10.1067/mob.2002.122091
  23. Lorenc, L., & Branthwaite, A. (1993). Are older adults less compliant with prescribed medication than younger adults? British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 32, 485-492. DOI: 10.1111/j.2044-8260.1993.tb01084.x
  24. Mason, L. (2001). Verità e certezze: natura e sviluppo delle epistemologie ingenue. Roma: Carrocci.
  25. Miller, L.G., Liu, H., Hays, R.D., Golin, C.E., Ye, Z., & Beck, C.K., et al. (2003). Knowledge of antiretroviral regimen dosing adherence: a longitudinal study. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 36, 514-518. DOI: 10.1086/367857.Moja,E.,&Vegni,E.(2000).Lavisitamedicacentratasulpaziente.Milano:RaffaelloCortinaEditore
  26. Nielsen-Bohlman, L., Panzer, A.M., & Kinding, D.A. (Eds.) (2004). Health literacy: A prescription to end confusion. Washington, D.C.: National Academic Press.
  27. Nutbeam, D. (1998). Health promotion glossary. Health Promotion International, 13, 349-364.
  28. Nutbeam, D. (2000). Health literacy as a public health goal: a challenge for contemporary health education and communicazione strategies in the 21th century. Health Promotion International, 15, 259-267. DOI: 10.1093/HEAPRO/15.3.259
  29. Paasche-Orlow, M.K., & Wolf, M.S. (2007). The causal pathway linking health literacy to health outcomes. American Journal of Health Behavior, 31, S19-S26.
  30. Paonessa, V., & Antonietti, A. (2006). Le credenze epistemologiche contestualizzate: Analisi di uno strumento di rilevazione. Imparare, 3, 9-27.
  31. Parker, R.M., Bakerm D. W., Williams, M.V., & Nurss, J.R. (1995). The test of functional health literacy in adults: A new instrument for measuring patients’ literacy skills. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 10, 537-541.
  32. Riva, S., Antonietti, A., & Pravettoni, G. (in press). How to define trust in medical consultation? A New perspective with the Game Theory approach. Global Research Analysis.
  33. Riva, S., Monti, M., & Antonietti, A. (2011). Simple heuristics in over the counter drugs’ choices. A new hint for medical education and practice. Advances in Medical Education and Practice, 2, 59-70.
  34. http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/AMEP.S13004.
  35. Riva, S., Monti, M., Iannello, P., & Antonietti, A. (2012). The representation of risk in routine medical experience: What actions for the contemporary health policy? PlosONE, 7(11), e48297. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0048297
  36. Riva, S., Monti, M., Iannello, P., Pravettoni, G., Schulz, P. J., & Antonietti, A. (2014). A preliminary mixed-method investigation of trust and hidden signals
  37. in medical consultations. PLosONE, 9(3), e90941. DOI: 10.1371/journal.-pone.0090941
  38. Roex, A., & Degryse, J. (2007). Viewpoint: Introducing the Concept of Epistemological Beliefs into Medical Education: The Hot-Air-Balloon Metaphor. Academic Medicine, 82, 616-620. DOI: 10.1097/ACM.0b013e3180556abd
  39. Schillinger, D., Grunbach, K., Piette, J., Wang, F., Osmond, D., Daher, C., et al. (2002). Association of healthy literacy with diabetes outcomes. Journal of the American Medical Association, 288, 475-482. DOI: 10.1001/jama.288.4.475
  40. Schommer, M. (1994). An emerging conceptualization of epistemological beliefs and their role in learning. In R. Garner., & P.A. Alexander (Eds.). Beliefs about text and instruction with text (pp. 53-69). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Schommer-Aikins, M. (2004). Explaining the epistemological belief system: Introducing the embedded systemic model and coordinated research approach. Educational Psychologist, 39, 19-29. DOI: 10.1207/s15326985ep3901_3
  41. Schulz, P.J., & Nakamoto, K. (2005). Emerging themes in health literacy. Studies in Communication Science, 5, 1-10.
  42. Strom, A., Kvernbekk, T., & Fagermoen, M.S. (2011). Parity: (im)possible? Interplay of knowledge forms in patient education. Nursing Inquiry, 18, 94-101. DOI: 10.1111/J.1440-1800.2011.00517.x
  43. The Health Personnel Act (1999). Norwegian: Lov 1999-07-02 nr. 64: Lov om helsepersonell m.m.
  44. The Patients’ Rights Act. (1999). Norwegian: Lov 1999-07-02 nr. 63, Lov om pasientrettigheter.
  45. Williams, M.V., Baker, D.W., Parker, R.M., & Nurss, J.R. (1998). Relationship of functional health literacy to patient’s knowledge of their chronic disease: a study of patients with hypertension and diabetes. Archives of Internal Medicine, 158, 166-172. DOI: 10.1001/archinte.158.2.166

Alessandro Antonietti, Manuela Cantoia, Le credenze epistemologiche circa il sapere medico: Quale ruolo nei comportamenti del paziente? in "RICERCHE DI PSICOLOGIA " 2/2014, pp 341-360, DOI: 10.3280/RIP2014-002010