Table 2.
Changes in the Beliefs about Medications Questionnaire after receiving GGST.
| Mean score (SD) | Mean score (SD) | p | |
|---|---|---|---|
| at baseline | at 4 months | ||
| Necessity questions | |||
| Lowering my cholesterol requires medications | 3.7 (1.0) | 3.5 (1.2) | 0.18 |
| My life would have been impossible without medications to lower my cholesterol | 2.4 (0.9) | 2.5 (1.0) | 0.46 |
| Without medicine to lower my cholesterol, I may have become very ill | 3.0 (0.9) | 3.2 (1.0) | 0.14 |
| My health depended on medicine to lower my cholesterol | 3.1 (1.1) | 3.2 (1.0) | 0.72 |
| My medicine to lower my cholesterol protected me from becoming sick | 2.9 (0.9) | 3.3 (0.9) | <0.001 |
| Concern questions | |||
| Having to take medicine to lower my cholesterol worried me | 3.2 (1.3) | 3.1 (1.2) | 0.38 |
| My medicine to lower my cholesterol was a mystery to me | 2.4 (1.1) | 2.4 (1.0) | 0.81 |
| My medicine to lower my cholesterol disrupted my life | 3.2 (1.4) | 2.8 (1.2) | 0.006 |
| I sometimes worried about becoming too dependent on medicine to lower my cholesterol | 2.5 (1.2) | 2.7 (1.2) | 0.35 |
| I sometimes worried about the long-term effects of medicine to lower my cholesterol | 3.9 (1.1) | 3.8 (1.1) | 0.56 |
| Mean necessity score | 15.1 (3.8) | 15.6 (4.0) | 0.24 |
| Mean concern score | 15.2 (4.2) | 14.7 (4.3) | 0.24 |
| Mean differential (necessity – concern) | −0.2 (6.3) | 0.9 (6.8) | 0.12 |
Each question was answered using a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. Items on the Necessity and Concerns scales were individually summed (total scores ranged from 5–25, with higher scores indicating stronger beliefs). Mean scores on each scale were reported as well as the mean difference between the Necessity and Concern scores. GGST = genotype guided statin therapy.