Validação psicométrica da versão em português do Brasil da Bandura’s Exercise Self-Efficacy Scale em indivíduos com Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

Purpose: The management of diabetes comprise diet, pharmacological therapy, lifestyle counseling, patient education, and physical exercise, to achieve change in health behavior and control of the disease. However, a large proportion of diabetes patients do not adhere to treatment recommendations, mainly in the lifestyle aspect, which remains sedentary. Considering that self-efficacy is an essential determinant of health behaviours such as exercise practice, the objective of the study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Brazilian Portuguese version of Bandura’s Exercise Self-Efficacy Scale (BESES) to be used in diabetes patients. Methods: The BESES was initially evaluated in thirty diabetes patients to confirm the feasibility of obtaining selfreported answers. The psychometric properties were tested in other two-hundred diabetes patients (age ≥ 18 years old) randomized into one of the four subsamples (n = 50) for the evaluation of psychometric properties, floor and ceiling effects, internal consistency, reproducibility and construct validity. Results: The BESES did not show ceiling and floor effects, achieved adequate internal consistency (Cronbach's Alpha Coefficient = 0.92) and reliability (Intraclass Correlation Coefficient = 0.83). The construct validity tested from the correlations between the scores of the Scale of Selfefficacy for Physical Exercise and the score of the Scale of Barriers to Exercise (r = - 0.327, P = 0.020) and the perceived effort evaluated by the Borg scale (r = - 0.378, P = 0.007) showed statistically significant and negative correlations. Conclusion: The Brazilian Portuguese version of the BESES seems to be a feasible and reliable instrument to assess the confidence in maintaining a physical exercise routine among diabetes patients.