A pilot test was conducted with 10 elderly outpatients with diabetes to assess the time required to complete the questionnaire and to determine any difficulties experienced in comprehending any of the questionnaire items.
The IDSCA is a comprehensive measurement of the self-care abilities of patients with diabetes. It consists of 35 items and 7 domain scales (ability to make the most of the support available; monitoring ability; motivation to self-management; ability of one's own self-management; stress-coping ability; application or adjustment ability; and ability to acquire knowledge); higher scores indicate a higher self-care ability. IDSCA has sufficient reliability and validity (24).