Development and psychometric testing of the self-care agency scale for patients undergoing long-term dialysis in Turkey.

Background: No instruments specifically evaluating the self-care agency of patients on dialysis have been developed before. This methodological study aimed to develop a Self-Care Agency Scale for patients on long-term dialysis and to test the scale's psychometric properties.
Design and Measurement: This cross-sectional methodological design study comprised 175 haemodialysis and 125 peritoneal dialysis patients receiving treatment at five different medical centres in Istanbul. The Self-Care Agency Scale items were generated after reviewing the literature and considering Orem's self-care model. Content validity was tested on the basis of the views of experts, and a pilot study was conducted. The construct validity and reliability of the Self-Care Agency Scale were tested.
Results: The final version of the scale was administered to 300 patients. Intraclass correlation coefficients showed stability of subscales. An exploratory factor analysis was performed. Cronbach's alpha coefficients were acceptable across all groups, as were item-total correlations.
Conclusion: The Self-Care Agency Scale is a valid and reliable instrument for patients on long-term dialysis.
(© 2014 European Dialysis and Transplant Nurses Association/European Renal Care Association.)