Development and validation of the Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Holistic Healthcare Needs Scale

Aims: This study aimed to develop and test a scale to measure the holistic healthcare needs of women with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus. Method : The scale was developed through a three-stage process. In stage one, initial items were generated based on a review of current literature, followed by content validation with service users and healthcare professionals. Stage two involved assessing face validity through cognitive interviews with women diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). In the final stage, the scale was evaluated using a sample of 342 women with GDM, recruited through the National Diabetes Services Scheme in Australia. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to assess the scale’s structure, and its reliability and validity were examined including tests for convergent and discriminant validity. Results: The final GDM Holistic Healthcare Needs Scale has 29 items within 6 domains; psychological, health education and information, managing GDM, healthcare services, social and personal, and culture. Variances of each factor explained were 12.87%, 12.21%, 12%, 10.80%, 8.41%, 7.39% and all six factors explained 69.13% of the variance in the 29 items. Results of confirmatory factor analysis suggest that adequate fit indices were achieved within the recommended thresholds. Conclusions: The GDM Holistic Healthcare Needs Scale shows adequate convergent and discriminant validity and reliability to measure the holistic healthcare needs of women with GDM.