Abstract
This study proposea a self-rating scale that can be used among participants in diabetes education to assess and support the learning processes for self-care ability for diabetes prevention. In this study, self-care abiligy refers not only to ways of taking care of oneself but also to ways of improving one's environments. Both the reliability and validity of the proposed self-rating scale were examined in this study for further revision and refinement. The subjects were 206 individuals who had undergone a health checkup and who were subsequently diagnosed as either having diabetes or possibly having diabetes. Based on the results of factor analysis, the self-rating scale was revised to include the following six sub-scales consisting of a total of 33 items : 1) to explore and determine how to improve current food intake and exercise patterns ; 2) to implement, monitor, and improve one's self-care ; 3) to approach families/community ; 4) to direct interest toward self-care ; 5) to assess the adequacy of rest ; and 6) to understand the symptoms of diabetes. The Cronbach's coefficient (α) calculated for the overall scale was 0.94, which is indicative of an adequate internal consistency. There was significant correlation between this self-rating scale score and the HbA_<1c> values (r=.18, p<.05). The validity of its related standards wasn't supported. But the path diagram of this self-rating subscales had explanatory power and a food fit to the data (GFI=-.94, RMSEA=-.079). A longitudinal study will be carried out in the future to further evaluate both the reliability and validity of the scale. The scale is intended for use among participants in diabetes education, who may examine the methodology to utilize the results obtained from the scale for facilitating the advancement in the learning process.
