Relationship of the Patient Activation Measure (PAM) to Employee Characteristics

Objectives With the increasing prominence of chronic conditions in health care delivery, we need new measures that help us predict the ability for people to manage themselves. An important new measure for research in this area, the Patient Activation Measure (PAM), has recently been developed, but little is known about the PAM score's association with other personal characteristics. We assess the relationship of the Patient Activation Measure (PAM) to employee characteristics including demographics, work environment, healthy behaviors, health risks, health status, readiness to change, and health information seeking.

Data Sources/Study Setting Data for this analysis were taken from baseline survey and clinical information collected during a randomized controlled trial, Spring 2005. The sample consists of two predominately white collar employee groups in the northern midwest (health care workers, airline reservationists) N = 631.

Study Design Although the overall study is a group randomized controlled trial, the study reported here is cross-sectional.

Data Collection Questionnaires were mailed to eligible employees at their worksite. Additional clinical information was collected from those who agreed to participate in the study.

Principal Findings In bivariate analyses, PM scores were significantly related to demographics (education, income, marital status), work environment (company type, absenteeism, job class, job satisfaction), healthy behaviors (exercise, eating breakfast, eating fruits and vegetables, having personal physician) health risks (body mass index, composite health risk status), health status (physical health, mental health, general health status, blood pressure, presence of chronic disease), readiness to change, and health information seeking (using web for health information, read medical resource books, subscribe to health magazines, know where to find information about hospital quality, know about health plan choices, adequately involved in health care decision making). In a multivariate, linear regression model, higher PAM scores were predicted by better physical health, mental health, better overall job performance, and more exercise. Higher PAM scores were also associated with readiness to change as well as reading health magazines and being confident about assessing information about hospital quality.

Conclusions Patient activation skills are critical for effective self management of chronic illness, and are directly related to self-reported physical and mental health status. The analysis provides a partial validation of the PAM by demonstrating an association with theoretically-related readiness to change and health information-seeking behaviors.