Developing and Psychometrically Testing the Functions of Diabetes Peer Support Group Scale.

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Psychometrics
• Diabetes Management

Background:

• Peer support groups are integral to diabetes care.
• Understanding their functions is key for healthcare professionals.
• This study addresses the need for a validated tool to assess these functions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and psychometrically evaluate the Functions of Diabetes Peer Support Group (F-DPSG) scale.
• To provide a reliable instrument for assessing peer support group functions in diabetes.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional design involving 589 Type 2 diabetes patients from 34 peer support groups in Taiwan.
• Development of a 16-item F-DPSG scale.
• Construct validity assessed via factor analyses and correlation with diabetes self-efficacy; reliability tested using internal consistency and test-retest methods.

Main Results:

• The 16-item F-DPSG scale, comprising four subscales (enhancing self-care, obtaining knowledge/skills, psychological support, collective identification), demonstrated good fit indices in confirmatory factor analysis.
• Significant correlation found between F-DPSG and diabetes self-efficacy scores (r = .45, p < .001).
• High reliability confirmed with Cronbach's alpha and test-retest values above .70 for the global scale and subscales.

Conclusions:

• The F-DPSG scale exhibits satisfactory psychometric properties, including reliability and validity.
• This scale can be utilized by healthcare providers to assess diabetes peer support group functions.
• Findings support the use of the F-DPSG scale for improving diabetes care through enhanced peer support.