Im doing research on type 2 diabetes in youth. The instrument that will be used is Diabetes Knowledge Test (DKT) and Diabetes Empowerment Scale (DES) short form from the University of Michigan Diabetes Research Training Center (MDRTC).

What is the validity and reliability metrics for this instrument?

Diabetes Knowledge Test- is a tool to your knowledge on diabetes and understanding your mistakes will allow you to identify the disease, when you notice the symptoms.

In order to examine the reliability and validity of diabetes knowledge test. The diabetes knowledge test has two components: a 14-item general test (to evaluate general diabetes knowledge) and a 9-item insulin-use sub scale (to evaluate insulin use).Furthermore, for the 14 items test, it is appropriate for adults with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. An additional 9 items constitute the insulin use sub scale that is appropriate for adults with type I Diabetes and type II using insulin. These 23 items represent a test of general knowledge of diabetes. The first 14 items are appropriate for people who do not use insulin. The entire 23 items can be administered to people who do use insulin. The psychometric properties provide information regarding the reliability of the various groups of items, as well as a difficulty index (percent of patients who scored this item correctly), and an item to group total correlation for each item. These data can be reported when describing the use of the test. This test is not recommended for the evaluation of self-management education programs because the items have not been matched to the particular educational content of the program

There were 4 separate analyses that were completed to examine the test's validity:

1.   Scores by Diabetes Types

2.   Scores by Treatment Types

3.   Scores by Educational Level

4.   Scores and Diabetes Duration

The diabetes knowledge testis a valid and reliable measure for estimating patient's general understanding of diabetes.

Diabetes Empowerment Scale- a tool to measure the psychosocial self-efficacy of people with diabetes.

Its original questionnaire contained 37 items representing 8 conceptual dimensions (example are assessing the need for change; developing a plan; overcoming barriers; asking for support; supporting oneself; coping with emotion; motivating oneself; and making diabetes care choices appropriate for one's priorities and circumstances). Using factor analyses the questionnaire was reduced to the current 28-item DES containing 3 subscales.

Below are the 3 Subscale:

1)     managing the psychosocial aspects of diabetes with 9 items

2)     assessing dissatisfaction and readiness to change with 9 items

3)     setting and achieving goals with 10 items

The data provide preliminary evidence that the DES is a valid and reliable measure of overall diabetes-related psychosocial self-efficacy.