Abstract
Background: It is important to assess the self-care behavior of patients with heart failure. However, in Japan, there is no valid and reliable scale for this purpose. The European Heart Failure Self-Care Behavior Scale (EHFScBS) is used to measure the self-care behavior of heart failure patients. The purpose of this study was to translate the EHFScBS into Japanese and evaluate its validity and reliability.
Methods and results: A convenience sample of 116 outpatients with heart failure completed the Japanese version of the EHFScBS. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated the one-dimensionality of the scale. The Japanese version of the EHFScBS was significantly correlated with another scale, which was considered to evaluate the concept linked with the self-care behavior theoretically. These confirm its construct validity. Cronbach's alpha was 0.71, suggesting that internal consistency was satisfactory. Test–retest reliability was evaluated. The intraclass correlation coefficient of the scale was 0.69 and weighted kappa for individual items was 0.33–0.87, suggesting that test–retest reliability is adequate.
Conclusions: The Japanese version of the EHFScBS was showed acceptable validity and reliability. It can be used to evaluate self-care behavior of Japanese patients with heart failure.
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