The Person-Centered Dermatology Self-Care Index: a tool to measure education and support needs of patients with long-term skin conditions.

Objective: To validate the Person-Centered Dermatology Self-Care Index (PeDeSI) as a tool for clinical assessment and for potential use in research evaluation.

Design: To date, no validated assessment measures exist to identify the education and support needs of patients living with long-term dermatological conditions and to enable them to self-manage as effectively as possible. The PeDeSI assessment tool was developed to meet this need using the self-efficacy construct and a model of concordance within prescribing practice. In total, 200 copies of the PeDeSI were distributed for validation, and 145 (72.5%) were returned completed. Data were analyzed using statistical software. Frequency distributions of all items were examined, and internal consistency was summarized using Cronbach α. Exploratory factor analysis was used to disclose any underlying structure among the data items. SETTING Three specialist dermatology centers in acute care hospitals.

Participants: Dermatology specialist nurses treating patients with chronic dermatoses.

Intervention: A PeDeSI was completed with each patient during his or her usual outpatient consultation.

Main outcome measure: Cronbach α.

Results: Cronbach α was 0.90, indicating good internal consistency. Eliminating individual items in turn made little difference in Cronbach α (range, 0.89-0.90). Item total correlations ranged from 0.44 to 0.76 (median, 0.68). Exploratory factor analysis extracted just one factor (eigenvalue, 5.37), with no other factors having eigenvalues exceeding 1.00. Factor loadings on individual items ranged from 0.47 to 0.80. CONCLUSION The PeDeSI is a valid, reliable, and clinically practical tool to systematically assess the education and support needs of patients with long-term dermatological conditions and to promote treatment concordance.