The health belief model: evaluation of a diabetes scale

Scales that make theoretical concepts of health beliefs operational must be shown to have acceptable levels of reliability and validity before they can be incorporated into teaching programs. This paper describes the process used to evaluate a Health Belief Model scale. A revised 11-item scale is proposed for use by diabetes educators. Content validity of the initial scale (76 items) and the shorter version was verified. Reliability estimates obtained by factor structure provided evidence of measurement accuracy for the proposed 11-item scale. Analyses of construct and criterion validity provided additional support to suggest the use of the HBM11 scale for clinical practice.