The summary of diabetes self-care activities measure: results from 7 studies and a revised scale.
OBJECTIVE
To review reliability, validity, and normative data from 7 different studies, involving a total of 1,988 people with diabetes, and provide a revised version of the Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities (SDSCA) measure.


METHODS
The SDSCA measure is a brief self-report questionnaire of diabetes self-management that includes items assessing the following aspects of the diabetes regimen: general diet, specific diet, exercise, blood-glucose testing, foot care, and smoking. Normative data (means and SD), inter-item and test-retest reliability, correlations between the SDSCA subscales and a range of criterion measures, and sensitivity to change scores are presented for the 7 different studies (5 randomized interventions and 2 observational studies).


RESULTS
Participants were typically older patients, having type 2 diabetes for a number of years, with a slight preponderance of women. The average inter-item correlations within scales were high (mean = 0.47), with the exception of specific diet; test-retest correlations were moderate (mean = 0.40). Correlations with other measures of diet and exercise generally supported the validity of the SDSCA subscales (mean = 0.23).


CONCLUSIONS
There are numerous benefits from standardization of measures across studies. The SDSCA questionnaire is a brief yet reliable and valid self-report measure of diabetes self-management that is useful both for research and practice. The revised version and its scoring are presented, and the inclusion of this measure in studies of diabetes self-management is recommended when appropriate.
Toobert
D J
DJ
Chronic Illness Research Group, Oregon Research Institute, Eugene 97403-1983, USA. deborah@ori.org
Hampson
S E
SE
Glasgow
R E
RE
D000368:Aged; D015190:Blood Glucose Self-Monitoring; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D017719:Diabetic Foot / Q000517:prevention & control; D003927:Diet, Diabetic; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012648:Self Care; D012907:Smoking; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires