CULTURAL ADAPTATION AND PSYCHOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF A SCALE OF SELF-CARE BEHAVIORS IN PERSONS WITH HEART FAILURE

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Heart failure (HF) has been described as a syndrome of epidemic proportions, with a prevalence of 1-3% amongst the global adult population under 60 years of age. Self-care behaviors are a key strategy in the development of successful interventions that reduce re-hospitalization, mortality and improve quality of life. OBJECTIVE: To adapt and validate the Revised Heart Failure Self-Care Behavior Scale in people with heart failure, who are in outpatient follow-up, in two Chilean public hospitals. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study of adaptation and psychometric analysis of the measuring instrument Scale of Assessment of Self-Care Behavior in Persons with Heart Failure, designed by Nancy Artinian. Location: Outpatient follow-up units in Chilean public hospitals. Participants: Patients with Heart Failure who attended two heart failure outpatient follow-up clinics within two secondary healthcare centers located in two districts of Santiago, Chile. Method: Expert judgments were made for the cultural adaptation of the instrument, followed by exploratory factor analysis with oblique rotation.  RESULTS: The Chilean Scale of Assessment of Self-Management Behaviors in Heart Failure presented adequate cultural adaptation, psychometric tests that guarantee its validity in terms of its construction and adequate reliability. Cronbach's Alpha of the Instrument was 0,84 IC [0,80-0,88] CONCLUSIONS: The study provides a tool that allows us to ascertain the self-care behaviors of patients with HF, allowing it to be used by professionals who care for people with HF in Chile.