Self-management in chronic conditions: partners in health scale instrument validation

Abstract

AIMS: This article describes a study that aimed to validate the Self-care in Chronic Conditions Partners in Health Scale instrument in the Mexican population. The instrument has been validated in Australia for use as a screening tool by primary healthcare professionals to assess the self-care skills and abilities of people with a chronic illness. METHODS: Validation was conducted using baseline data for 552 people with diabetes, hypertension and cancer aged 18 or older who were users of healthcare centres in Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico. RESULTS: Results show high reliability and validity of the instrument and three themes were identified: knowledge, adherence, and dealing with and managing side effects. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest the scale is useful as a generic self-rated clinical tool for assessing self-management in a range of chronic conditions, and provides an outcome measure for comparing populations and change in patient self-management knowledge and behaviour. The authors recommend validating the scale in other Latin-American settings with more research into the effect of gender on self- management.