To determine the reliability and the validity of the Diabetes Care Profile (DCP), an instrument that assesses the social and psychological factors related to diabetes and its treatment, two studies with separate populations and methodologies were conducted In the first study, the DCP was administered to, and physiologic measures collected from, individuals with diabetes being cared for in a community setting (n = 440). In the second study, the DCP and several previously validated scales were administered to individuals with diabetes receiving care at a university medical center (n = 352). Cronbach's alphas of individual DCP scales ranged from .60 to .95 (Study 1) and from .66 to .94 (Study 2). Glycohemoglobin levels correlated with three DCP scales (Study 1). Several DCP scales discriminated among patients with different levels of disease severity. The results of the studies indicate that the DCP is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring the psychosocial factors related to diabetes and its treatment.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Anderson, R. M.
, Fitzgerald, J. T., & Oh, M. S. (1993). The relationship of diabetes-related attitudes and patients' self-reported adherence. Diabetes Educator, 19, 287-292.
2.
Bradley, C.
, & Lewis, K. S. (1990). Measures of psychological well-being and treatment satisfaction developed from the responses of people with tablet-treated diabetes. Diabetic Medicine, 7,445-451.
3.
Bryant, F. B.
, & Veroff, J. (1986). Dimensions of subjective mental health in American men and women. In F. A. Andrews (Ed.), Research on the quality of life (pp. 117-146). Ann Arbor, MI: Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan.
4.
Brownlee-Duffeck, M.
, Peterson, L., Simonds, J. F., Goldstein, D., Kilo, C., & Hoette, S. (1987). The role of health beliefs in the regimen adherence and metabolic control of adolescents and adults with diabetes mellitus. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55, 139-144.
5.
Cerkoney, K. A.
, & Hart, L. K. (1980). The relationship between the Health Belief Model and compliance of persons with diabetes mellitus. Diabetes Care, 3, 594-598.
6.
Cronbach, L. J.
(1951). Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests. Psychometrika, 16, 297-334.
7.
Cutrona, C. E.
, & Russell, D. W. (1987). The provisions of social relationships and adaptation to stress. Advances in Personal Relationships, 1, 37-67.
8.
Davis, W. K.
, Hess, G. E., Harrison, R. V., & Hiss, R. G. (1987). Psychosocial adjustment to and control of diabetes mellitus: Differences by disease type and treatment. Health Psychology, 6, 1-14.
9.
The DCCT Research Group
. (1988). Reliability and validity of adiabetes quality-of-life measure for the diabetes control and complications trial (DCCT). Diabetes Care, 11, 725-732.
10.
The DCCT Research Group
. (1993). The effect of intensive treatment of diabetes on the development and progression of long-term complications in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. New England Journal of Medicine, 329, 977-986.
11.
Glasgow, R. E.
, & Osteen, V. L. (1992). Evaluating diabetes education. Diabetes Care, 15, 1423-1432.
12.
Glasgow, R. E.
, & Toobert, D. J. (1988). Social environmentandregimen adherence amongType II diabetic patients. Diabetes Care, 11, 377-386.
13.
Harris, M. I.
, Eastman, R. C., & Siebert, C. (1994). The DCCT and medical care for diabetes in the U.S.Diabetes Care, 17,761-764.
14.
Harris, R.
, & Linn, M. W. (1985). Health beliefs, compliance and control of diabetes mellitus. Southern Medical Journal, 78, 162-166.
15.
Harris, R.
, Linn, M. W., Skyler, J. S., & Sandifer, R. (1987). Development of the diabetes health belief scale. Diabetes Educator, 13, 292-297.
16.
Hess, G. E.
, Davis, W. K., & Harrison, R. V. (1986). A diabetes psychosocial profile. Diabetes Educator, 12, 135-140.
17.
Hiss, R. G.
, Anderson, R. M., Hess, G. E., Stepien, C. J., & Davis, W. K. (1994). Community diabetes care-a ten year perspective. Diabetes Care, 17, 1124-1134.
18.
Hurley, A. C.
(1990). The Health Belief Model: Evaluation of a diabetes scale. Diabetes Educator, 16, 44-48.
19.
Irvine, A. A.
, Saunders, J. T., Blank, M. B., & Carter, W. R. (1990). Validation of scale measuring environmental barriers to diabetes-regimen adherence. Diabetes Care, 13, 705-711.
20.
Jacobson, A. M.
, DeGroot, M., & Samson, J. A. (1994). The evaluation of two measures of quality of life in patients with Type I and Type II diabetes. Diabetes Care, 17, 267-274.
21.
Janz, N.
, & Becker, M. H. (1984). The Health Belief Model: A decade later. Health Education Quarterly, 11, 1-47.
22.
Kurtz, S.M.S.
(1990). Adherence to diabetes regimens: Empirical status and clinical applications. Diabetes Educator, 16, 50-56.
23.
Lewis, K. S.
, Jennings, A. M., Ward, J. D., & Bradley, C. (1990). Health belief scales developed specifically for people with tablet-treated Type 2 diabetes. Diabetic Medicine, 7, 148-152.
24.
Ludvigsson, J.
, Richt, B., & Svensson, P. G. (1980). Compliance and the health relief model-its relevance to the treatment of juvenile diabetes mellitus. Scandinavian Journal of Social Medicine Supplementum, 18, 57-72.
25.
Mancini, J. A.
, & Blieszner, R. (1992). Social provisions inadulthood: Conceptandmeasurement in close relationships. Journal of Gerontology, 47, 14-20.
26.
McKelvey, J.
, Waller, D. A., North, A. J., Marks, J. F., Schreiner, B., Travis, L. B., & Murphy, J. N. (1993). Reliability and validity of the diabetes family behavior scale (DFBS). Diabetes Educator, 19, 125-132.
27.
Radloff, L. S.
(1977). The CES-D scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 3, 385-401.
28.
Rubin, R. R.
, & Peyrot, M. P. (1992). Psychosocial problems and interventions in diabetes: A review of the literature. Diabetes Care, 15, 1640-1657.
29.
Speelman-Rhiley, D.
(1993). Psychological assessment and support. In V. Peragallo-Dittko, K. Godley, & J. Meyer (Eds.), A core curriculumfor diabetes education (pp.27-51). Chicago: American Association of Diabetes Educators.
30.
Wikblad, K. F.
, Wibell, L. B., & Montin, K. R. (1990). The patient's experience of diabetes and its treatment: Construction of an attitude scale by a semantic differential technique. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 15, 1083-1091.
