Development of the Breast Cancer Related Lymphedema Self-Care Scale

Abstract

The purpose of study was to develop the Breast Cancer Related Lymphedema Self-Care Scale to evaluate the self-care practices of women with breast cancer-related lymphedema (BRCL); and to examine the psycholinguistic and psychometric characteristics of this scale. The item pool of the scale was created based on the literature in this descriptive study. Content validity, explanatory and confirmatory factor analyses used in evaluation of the validity; and item analyzes, the Cronbach's Alpha and Split Half analyzes were made for reliability in the study. The content validity index was found to be above 0.80. In the Explanatory Factor Analysis, a four-factor structure was obtained. In Confirmatory Factor Analysis, fit indices were found to be acceptable. Cronbach's Alpha coefficients of the sub-dimensions of the scale varied between 0.62 and 0.86. It was determined the Breast Cancer Related Lymphedema Self-Care Scale was a valid and reliable scale for women with BRCL.