• Kehinde Obamiro and Kenneth Lee.
• Centre for Rural Health, School of Health Sciences, College of Health and Medicine, University of Tasmania, Tasmania, Australia; Division of Pharmacy, School of Medicine, College of Health and Medicine, University of Tasmania, Tasmania, Australia.
• Patient Educ Couns. 2019 Mar 1; 102 (3): 550-554.

ObjectiveInformation overload can negatively impact positive health behaviors such as cancer screening. The 8-item Cancer Information Overload (CIO) scale appears to be the only validated measure of health-related information overload. The present study assesses the validity of the CIO scale when modified for use in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) residing in Australia.MethodsWe conducted a secondary analysis of data from a study of adult Australian patients with AF (N = 386) in which a modified version of the CIO scale was used. In the present study, we examined the construct (convergent and divergent) validity and performed an exploratory factor analysis for the modified scale.ResultsAll items on the modified-CIO scale appear to load onto a single factor. As predicted, higher education levels (rs=-.24, p < .001) and higher oral anticoagulant knowledge (rs=-.17, p = .001) were significantly associated with lower modified-CIO scores; no other demographic characteristics were significantly associated with CIO scores.ConclusionWhen adapted to the AF context, the modified-CIO scale appears to be a valid measure of information overload.Practice ImplicationsA valid scale is required to measure information overload accurately. Knowledge of the interplay between information overload and various health behaviors help focus future efforts to support patient empowerment.Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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