development and preliminary validation of self-management scale for breast cancer patients in a tertiary hospital in southeastern nigeria

Background: self-management process of diseases aims to equip patients with specific information that will improve compliance with prescribed medication and develop strategies that will help maintain quality of life. methods: a set of 35-potential self-management model was developed for the breast cancer patients in 2 domains from extensive literature search. the instrument was validated using delphi technique, item-total correlation analysis, factor analysis, construct validity and reliability analysis. consensus was reached on the content validation of the self-management scale with mean score > 3.5, median > 3.5, absolute value between the median and mode < 1.00.results: forty-three items emerged after content validation in 2 domains: demographic characteristics of patients, and self-management content. construct validity for selected items of the instrument showed values above 0.5. item-total correlation analysis resulted in 31-items of the instrument. factor analysis revealed a multi-dimensional instrument. the internal consistency of the instrument was determined with values between 0.5 - 0.8. conclusion: preliminary validation of the instrument showed the instrument to be valid but the internal consistency needs to be evaluated further with larger population size. the self-management scale revealed level of self-management among the breast cancer patients. this instrument should form a reliable tool for evaluating self-management in breast cancer patients in nigeria.