title: Development and validation of the hypoglycaemia problem-solving scale for people with diabetes mellitus.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To develop and psychometrically test a new instrument, the hypoglycaemia problem-solving scale (HPSS), which was designed to measure how well people with diabetes mellitus manage their hypoglycaemia-related problems.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional survey design approach was used to validate the performance assessment instrument. Patients who had a diagnosis of type 1 or type 2 diabetes mellitus for at least 1 year, who were being treated with insulin and who had experienced at least one hypoglycaemic episode within the previous 6 months were eligible for inclusion in the study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 313 patients were included in the study. The initial draft of the HPSS included 28 items. After exploratory factor analysis, the 24-item HPSS consisted of seven factors: problem-solving perception, detection control, identifying problem attributes, setting problem-solving goals, seeking preventive strategies, evaluating strategies, and immediate management. The Cronbach's α for the total HPSS was 0.83.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The HPSS was verified as being valid and reliable. Future studies should further test and improve the instrument to increase its effectiveness in helping people with diabetes manage their hypoglycaemia-related problems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Chang Gung University of Science and Technology, Taoyuan City, Taiwan flwu@gw.cgust.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Fei-Ling
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan City, Taiwan Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan City, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Jyuhn-Huarng
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Juang
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan City, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chia-Hung
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003710:Demography; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007003:Hypoglycemia / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Problem-solving; diabetes mellitus; hypoglycaemia; scale development