Psychometric Properties of the Assessment of Perceived Access to Care (APAC) Instrument

John C Fortney; Jeff M Pyne; Matt Hawrilenko; Jared M Bechtel; Dana Moore; John P Nolan; Paul Pfeiffer; Stephanie Shushan; Jay H Shore; Deb Bowen

doi:10.1097/JAC.0000000000000358

Psychometric Properties of the Assessment of Perceived Access to Care (APAC) Instrument

J Ambul Care Manage. 2021 Jan/Mar;44(1):31-45. doi: 10.1097/JAC.0000000000000358.

Authors

John C Fortney¹, Jeff M Pyne, Matt Hawrilenko, Jared M Bechtel, Dana Moore, John P Nolan, Paul Pfeiffer, Stephanie Shushan, Jay H Shore, Deb Bowen

Affiliation

¹ Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle (Dr Fortney and Hawrilenko and Mr Bechtel); Department of Veterans Affairs, Health Services Research and Development, Center of Innovation for Veteran-Centered and Value-Driven Care, Seattle, Washington (Dr Fortney); Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock (Dr Pyne); Department of Veterans Affairs, Health Services Research and Development, Center for Mental Healthcare and Outcomes Research, Little Rock, Arkansas (Dr Pyne); Social and Economic Sciences Research Center at Washington State University, Pullman (Dr Moore); University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor (Dr Pfeiffer); Department of Veterans Affairs, Health Services Research and Development, Center for Clinical Management Research, VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, Michigan (Dr Pfeiffer); Community Health Plan of Washington, Seattle (Ms Shushan); Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado at Denver (Dr Shore); and Department of Bioethics and Humanities, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle (Dr Bowen). Mr Nolan is Veteran Advocate and a member of the SPIRIT Consumer Advisory Board.

PMID: 33165120
DOI: 10.1097/JAC.0000000000000358

Abstract

Valid measures of perceived access are needed to measure whether health care systems are providing adequate access. This research reports on the psychometric properties of the Assessment of Perceived Access to Care (APAC), which was administered to 1004 Community Health Center patients screening positive for psychiatric disorders. Known-group validity was good, with 6 of the 8 hypothesized associations between social determinants of access and perceived access being significant (P < .01). Better access was significantly (P < .01) correlated with more outpatient mental health visits, indicating good convergent validity. The test-retest Pearson correlation coefficient (0.64) was statistically significant (P < .01). The APAC has acceptable psychometric properties.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02738944.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Health Services Accessibility
Humans
Mental Disorders* / diagnosis
Mental Disorders* / therapy
Mental Health
Psychometrics
Reproducibility of Results
Surveys and Questionnaires

Associated data

ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT02738944