Development and Psychometric Testing of Scales of Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Self-Care for Patients With Arteriovenous Fistula.

Abstract

Background and Purpose: To validate the scales of knowledge, attitude, and practice of self-care for arteriovenous fistulas in renal patients on hemodialysis. Methods: A methodological study verified the evidence of validity based on the content, response processes, and internal structure of the scales. The content was evaluated by six judges, and the response processes were verified with six patients. In the evaluation of the internal structure, the scales were applied to 220 patients for exploratory factor analysis with evaluation of McDonald's omega adjustment and calculation indexes. Results: The scales explained variance and McDonald's omega values of 40.4%/0.896, 60.7%/0.843, and 36.9%/0.702 for the knowledge (19 items), attitude (4 items), and practice (8 items), respectively. Conclusions: The scale of attitude was valid after the analysis of the content evidence, response processes, and internal structure. The arteriovenous fistula self-care knowledge and practice scales explained less than 50% of the constructs. Therefore, it is recommended that new studies be conducted to validate scales of knowledge and practice of fistula self-care.