Development and validation of self-management scale for tuberculosis patients

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Management
• Patient-Centered Care

Background:

• Tuberculosis (TB) poses a significant global health challenge.
• Directly observed therapy (DOT) is not universally suitable for all TB patients.
• Patient self-management is a crucial, yet unmeasured, component of TB care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a reliable and valid self-management scale for tuberculosis patients.
• To provide a patient-centered tool to supplement existing TB management strategies.
• To facilitate the creation and assessment of evidence-based TB self-management interventions.

Main Methods:

• Developed an initial scale based on a TB health promotion framework.
• Conducted item analysis and exploratory factor analysis for scale refinement.
• Validated the scale with 462 TB patients using reliability (Cronbach's α, ICC) and validity (content, construct) analyses.

Main Results:

• The final 17-item scale comprises three dimensions: adherence to treatment, transmission prevention, and supportive therapy behaviors.
• The scale demonstrated excellent reliability (Cronbach's α = 0.905, ICC = 0.897) and strong validity.
• Factor analysis confirmed the scale's construct validity, with high explained variance (76.60%).

Conclusions:

• The developed self-management scale for tuberculosis patients exhibits strong reliability and validity.
• This scale can serve as a valuable instrument for assessing patient self-management in tuberculosis.
• The scale can inform the development and evaluation of targeted, evidence-based self-management interventions for TB patients.