Aim. This paper is a report of development and psychometric testing of the Chinese version of the Diabetes Empowerment Process Scale.
Background. In people living with diabetes, empowering can improve metabolic and psychosocial outcomes. A scale for measuring empowerment processes can help healthcare professionals to optimize their empowering actions and would improve their interactions with people living with diabetes.
Method. Based on literature reviews and interviews with people living with diabetes, a 27-item Chinese Diabetes Empowerment Process Scale was developed. Fifteen items were produced after item analysis and content validity testing. To test construct validity, concurrent validity, and internal consistency, 211 outpatients living with diabetes completed the Chinese Diabetes Empowerment Process Scale, a self-care behavior scale, and a Diabetes Empowerment Scale. Test- retest reliability was also analyzed in 30 patients. The study was conducted in 2008 and 2009 in Taiwan.
Results. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that a second-order factorial model with four subscales and 15 items best fit the data. The four subscales were mutual participation, raising awareness, providing necessary information, and open communication. Scores on the Chinese Diabetes Empowerment Process Scale significantly correlated with those on the Self-care Behavior Scale (r=0•21-0•40; P< 0•01) and Diabetes Empowerment Scale (r=0•35-0•65; P< 0•01). Reliability was supported by acceptable Cronbach’s α (range, 0•73-0•91) and test-retest reliability scores (range, 0•75-0•83).
Conclusions. The Chinese Diabetes Empowerment Process Scale has satisfactory reliability and validity for measuring the empowerment process of health professionals. Further studies are needed to test the applicability of the scale to other populations.
