Development and Psychometric Properties of the 5-Item Diabetes Fatalism Scale Short Form (DFS-SF)

Area of Science:

• Psychometric validation of health scales
• Diabetes self-management and outcomes research
• Behavioral science in chronic disease management

Background:

• Diabetes fatalism, a belief in the inevitability of diabetes complications, can negatively impact self-care and health outcomes.
• Existing measures may be lengthy, limiting their use in clinical trials and large studies.
• Development of a brief, reliable scale is needed to assess diabetes fatalism efficiently.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a short form of the Diabetes Fatalism Scale (DFS-SF).
• To create a brief, single-factor scale capturing the core dimensions of diabetes fatalism.
• To ensure the DFS-SF maintains reliability and validity comparable to the original DFS-12.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from 200 African American adults with type 2 diabetes from a randomized clinical trial.
• Employed item correlation, principal component analysis, and variance analysis to select items for the DFS-SF.
• Assessed the scale's reliability (Cronbach's alpha) and discriminatory ability through longitudinal associations with clinical, behavioral, and psychosocial variables.

Main Results:

• The 5-item DFS-SF demonstrated good reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.72) and maintained the DFS-12's dimensions.
• The DFS-SF explained 82% of the variance of the full DFS-12 scale.
• Significant associations were found between DFS-SF scores and glycemic control, quality of life, BMI, diet, exercise, medication adherence, self-efficacy, social support, and depressive symptoms.

Conclusions:

• The DFS-SF is a valid and reliable 5-item scale for measuring diabetes fatalism.
• It effectively captures the construct of the original DFS-12 with improved brevity.
• The DFS-SF is suitable for use in clinical trials and large population studies where efficient measurement is crucial.