Development and validation of the Chinese version of the self-management support scale for kidney transplant recipients

• Published in: BMC nursing Vol. 22; no. 1; p. 128
• Main Authors: Lin, Keke, Wei, Changyun, Li, Jiaqi, Guo, Xuejie, Gao, Fengli, Zhao, Peiyu, Liu, Hongxia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 18.04.2023; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Analysis; Chronic illnesses; Data collection; Delphi method; Diabetes; Disease; Focus groups; Friendship; Health aspects; Instrument development; Interviews; Kidney transplant; Kidney transplants; Kidneys; Medical care, Cost of; Organ transplant recipients; Quality of life; Questionnaires; Reliability; Self-care, Health; Self-management support; Social aspects; Transplantation; Validity; China; Japan; Instrument development; Validity; Kidney transplant; Reliability; Self-management support
• ISSN: 1472-6955; 1472-6955
• DOI: 10.1186/s12912-023-01269-x

Providing self-management support to kidney transplant recipients is essential. However, a scale to identify the self-management support they have received is lacking. The purpose of this study is to develop a Self-management Support Scale for Kidney Transplant Recipients (SMSSKTR) and test its psychometric properties. This is an instrument development and validation study, which has a three-stage cross-sectional design. In Stage 1, a preliminary item pool was formed using a literature review, semi-structured interviews, and the Delphi method. In Stage 2, six experts were invited to assess content validity. A convenience sample of 313 participants was used to explore the factor structure by using exploratory factor analysis. The test-retest reliability was assessed using the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC). In Stage 3, two hundred and sixty-five participants were recruited to validate the factor structure by using confirmatory factor analysis. Convergent validity was examined using Spearman's correlation coefficient. Cronbach's alpha coefficient and corrected item-total correlation coefficient were used to test the reliability of the entire scale and its dimensions. The study was reported according to the STARD and GRRAS checklists. An initial 40-item scale was developed in Stage 1. In Stage 2, three factors with 22 items emerged from the exploratory factor analysis: instrumental support, psychosocial support, and relational support. The content validity index of the scale was 0.97. The intra-class correlation coefficient for the entire scale and the subscales were 0.915, 0.771, 0.896, and 0.832, respectively. In Stage 3, the confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the three-factor model had a good fit. The score of the scale was positively associated with that of the Self-Management Scale of Renal Transplant Recipients (r = 0.532). Cronbach's alpha was 0.959 for the entire scale and 0.956-0.958 for the three subscales. The corrected item-total correlation coefficient ranged from 0.62 to 0.82. The 22-item SMSSKTR has sufficient psychometric properties to assess the self-management support they have received, which has not been measured before.