Measuring Diabetes Self-Care

OBJECTIVE—To examine psychometric properties of the Self-Care Inventory-revised (SCI-R), a self-report measure of perceived adherence to diabetes self-care recommendations, among adults with diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—We used three data sets of adult type 1 and type 2 diabetic patients to examine psychometric properties of the SCI-R. Principal component and factor analyses examined whether a general factor or common factors were present. Associations with measures of theoretically related concepts were examined to assess SCI-R concurrent and convergent validity. Internal reliability coefficients were calculated. Responsiveness was assessed using paired t tests, effect size, and Guyatt’s statistic for type 1 patients who completed psychoeducation. RESULTS—Principal component and factor analyses identified a general factor but no consistent common factors. Internal consistency of the SCI-R was α = 0.87. Correlation with a measure of frequency of diabetes self-care behaviors was r = 0.63, providing evidence for SCI-R concurrent validity. The SCI-R correlated with diabetes-related distress (r = −0.36), self-esteem (r = 0.25), self-efficacy (r = 0.47), depression (r = −0.22), anxiety (r = −0.24), and HbA1c (r = −0.37), supporting construct validity. Responsiveness analyses showed SCI-R scores improved with diabetes psychoeducation with a medium effect size of 0.62 and a Guyatt’s statistic of 0.85. CONCLUSIONS—The SCI-R is a brief, psychometrically sound measure of perceptions of adherence to recommended diabetes self-care behaviors of adults with type 1 or type 2 diabetes.