Assessment of adherence with multiple informants in pre-adolescents with spina bifida: initial development of a multidimensional, multitask parent-report questionnaire.

Adherence to medical regimens was assessed in 67 pre-adolescents with spina bifida (8- and 9-year-olds; 37 boys, 30 girls), with mother, father, teacher, and health professional report. The Parent-Report of Medical Adherence in Spina Bifida Scale (PROMASB) was developed and includes multidimensional scales for the following tasks: catheterization, bowel care, skin care, medication, and ambulation. With few exceptions, the PROMASB has adequate psychometric properties. However, findings revealed modest to low correlations between respondents. Mothers and fathers reported significantly more noncompliance than teachers and health professionals. For the most part, all informants reported that most children were compliant across all tasks. Additional analyses based on qualitative data suggest that parents attribute compliance difficulties to motivational as well as attentional-memory factors.