Development of an Instrument to Assess Athletic Trainers' Attitudes Toward Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Patients.

Purpose: To create an instrument to assess attitudes toward lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) patients among random samples of athletic trainers in the United States. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study using semi-structured interviews, paper-based questionnaires, and an electronic questionnaire. Development included three phases: (1) exploratory interviews and questionnaire responses, (2) construct validity and item reduction, and (3) criterion validity. Results: Six athletic trainers completed semi-structured interviews to develop themes regarding LGB patients. Additionally, 39 students in professional and post-professional athletic training programs answered questionnaires designed to elicit statements regarding LGB patients. For item reduction, 3,000 athletic trainers were emailed a questionnaire (response rate = 17%). For validation, another sample of 3,000 athletic trainers was sent the instruments (response rate = 13%). Athletic trainer emails were obtained from the National Athletic Trainers' Association. The resultant instrument was the 15-item Attitudes Toward Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Patients (ATLGBP) (α =.830). There were significant correlations between the ATLGBP and subscales of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual–Knowledge and Attitude Scale for Heterosexuals (hate: r =.464; civil rights: r = −.683; religion: r =.532; internal: r = −.612; knowledge: r = −.430; P <.001). Conclusions: The ATLGBP assesses affective, cognitive, and behavioral expressions of LGB attitudes in settings common to clinicians. The ability to assess attitudes toward LGB patients enables clinicians to identify areas on which to focus training and education. [Athletic Training & Sports Health Care. 2021;13(4):e146–e152.] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]