Validation of diabetes-related awareness instrument (DRAI) to measure diabetics awareness towards risk factors and prevention strategies

Abstract

PurposeAccessibility to a precise tool for healthcare management and self-precaution among diabetic patients is an absolute necessity. This paper aims to develop and validate diabetes-related awareness instrument (DRAI) – an instrument that measures diabetics awareness about risk factors and prevention strategies.Design/methodology/approachThe reliability and validity of the DRAI were tested with a sample of 112 diabetics. The construct validity of the DRAI was measured using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Item discrimination, reliability, usefulness and validity of the items were determined by performing Cronbach's alpha, item difficulty and discrimination index analysis.FindingsThe study finds DRAI – a reliable and valid instrument to assess diabetics awareness towards diabetes mellitus, its associated risk factors and prevention strategies. The value of Cronbach's alpha for all three constructs was above the threshold level of 0.70. Under exploratory factor analysis, “Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin” test value of 0.805 exhibits a meritorious sample adequacy and “Bartlet's test of Sphericity” was statistically significant with p = 0.032. Therefore, results of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) revealed that all fitness indices of the model to be excellent fit.Practical implicationsThe present instrument can help to determine whether the individual is susceptible to diabetes, timely prevention and reduction in the incidence of diabetes mellitus.Originality/valueDRAI is the first of its kind tool to assess the awareness and knowledge about diabetes-related risk factors and prevention strategies in such a demographically diverse population of India.