A comparison of health locus of control beliefs in low-back patients from the U.S. and New Zealand

Abstract

In order to study differences in health control attitudes between chronic low-back patients from the U.S. and New Zealand, the Health Locus of Control (HLC) was administered to 284 consecutive admissions to pain clinics in those countries: 96 patients seen at the Auckland (New Zealand) Pain Clinic and 188 seen at the University of Virginia (U.S.) Pain Clinic. The HLC is an 11-item instrument [23] that assesses general control over health matters. Principal component factor analyses indicated 3 distinct subscales for the low back patients: (a) personal health control, (b) external health control, and (c) control by powerful others (physicians). HLC responses were analyzed with univariate analyses of variance using subscale scores as dependent measures and country and sex as independent variables. New Zealanders rated themselves as less dependent on physicians' orders (F (1,280)=3.92, P less than 0.05), and women were seen as having less personal control over their pain conditions than men (F (1,280)=6.29, P less than 0.02). The differences related to sex and country are discussed within a social learning framework. Suggestions are made for future cross-cultural research, especially related to issues of dependency on others for health control and outcomes in the treatment of chronic pain.