Construction and validation of a scale of assessment of self-care behaviors with arteriovenous fistula in hemodialysis

Several guidelines recommend the importance of educating the patient about the care of vascular access. Nurses have a key role in promoting the development of self‐care behaviors by providing the necessary knowledge to patients, so that they develop the necessary skills to take care of the arteriovenous fistula (AVF). This article describes the process of building a scale of assessment of self‐care behaviors with arteriovenous fistula in hemodialysis (ASBHD‐AVF). This is a cross‐sectional study in which the development, construction, and validation process followed the directions of the authors Streiner and Norman. This is a convenience sample, sequential, and nonprobabilistic constituted by 218 patients. The study was conducted in two stages during 2012–2014. The first phase corresponds to the scale construction process, 64 patients participated, while the second corresponds to the evaluation of metric properties and 154 patients participated. The principal component analysis revealed a two‐factor structure, with factorial weights between 0.805 and 0.511 and between 0.700 and 0.369, respectively, explaining 39.12% of the total variance of the responses. The Cronbach's alpha of the subscale management of signs and symptoms is 0.797 and from the subscale prevention of complications is 0.722. The ASBHD‐AVF revealed properties that allow its use to assess the self‐care behaviors in the maintenance and conservation of the AVF.