Self-Care Decisions Inventory

When people living with chronic illness notice symptoms, deciding what to do next isn’t simple. Decisions are made when conditions are dynamically evolving (i.e., the clinical condition is changing) and various contextual factor (e.g. uncertainty, time stress, input from family) influence the decision-making process. The Self-Care Decisions Inventory is a 27-item questionnaire designed to capture how these real-world factors influence self-care decision-making in response to symptoms. The instrument measures the extent to which six contextual factors influence self-care decision making:
  • External – input from others (e.g., family, clinicians)
  • Urgency – the perception of urgency or that the decision is high stakes
  • Uncertainty – uncertainty or ambiguity, from incomplete information and/or difficulty interpreting the symptom.
  • Cognitive/Affective – the interference of thoughts or feelings on making a decision
  • Waiting/Cue Competition – situational factors that delay decision making
  • Concealment – a desire to hide symptoms from others
Together, these scales reflect how people naturally navigate symptom decisions in daily life. Researchers can use this instrument to better understand how patients make decisions in response to symptoms. Details about instrument development and psychometric properties are available in this publication: Page, S. D., Lee, C., Aryal, S., Freedland, K., Stromberg, A., Vellone, E., Westland, H., Wiebe, D. J., Jaarsma, T., & Riegel, B. (2022). Development and testing of an instrument to measure contextual factors influencing self-care decisions among adults with chronic illness. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 20(1), 83. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12955-022-01990-2 Patterns of self-care decision making that were identified from the instrument are described in this publication: Lee, C. S., Freedland, K. E., Jaarsma, T., Strömberg, A., Vellone, E., Page, S. D., Westland, H., Pettersson, S., van Rijn, M., Aryal, S., Belfiglio, A., Wiebe, D., & Riegel, B. (2024). Patterns of self-care decision-making and associated factors: A cross-sectional observational study. International journal of nursing studies, 150, 104665. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2023.104665
Primary Contact
Shayleigh Dickson Page, PhD, CRNP, CPNP-AC

Shayleigh Dickson Page, PhD, CRNP, CPNP-AC

Assistant Professor
Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing
Hunter College of the City University of New York (CUNY)

Email: Shayleigh.Page@hunter.cuny.edu

Self-Care Decisions Inventory (English)

Self-Care Decisions Inventory (English)