Psychometric testing of the short‐form Chinese version of the self‐management for adolescents with type 1 diabetes scale

ABSTRACT Self‐management among adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D) is poorer than in other age groups during childhood. A valid and reliable short‐form scale to measure self‐management in adolescents with T1D is prudent for enhancing their self‐management in clinical settings. We used a cross‐sectional design to develop a short‐form Chinese version of the Self‐Management of Type 1 Diabetes for Adolescents Scale (C‐SMOD‐A) and test its psychometric characteristics. Two hundred adolescents with T1D were recruited from four hospitals in Taiwan through convenience sampling. Content validity, exploratory factor analysis, and corrected item‐total correlations were used to shorten the 52‐item C‐SMOD‐A. Confirmatory factor analysis, criterion‐related validity, and reliability testing were used to examine the psychometric characteristics of the short‐form C‐SMOD‐A. Finally, the 23‐item C‐SMOD‐A (C‐SMOD‐A‐23) with five inter‐correlated factors was developed. Glycated hemoglobin levels were significantly associated with each subscale of the C‐SMOD‐A‐23 with correlation coefficients ranging from −0.18 to −0.31. The composite reliability and test–retest reliability of the five subscales ranged from 0.70 to 0.88 and from 0.78 to 0.93 respectively. Accordingly, the C‐SMOD‐A‐23 has acceptable validity and reliability to measure five specific domains of self‐management for adolescents with T1D. Health‐care providers could use the C‐SMOD‐A‐23 as a clinical reference to assess specific domains of self‐management and provide interventions to enhance self‐management for adolescents with T1D.