The Skills, Confidence & Preparedness Index (SCPI)

Canadian experts in diabetes care developed the Skills, Confidence \& Preparedness Index (SCPI) to assess diabetes self-management in patients. The SCPI is web-based, gives immediate feedback to the healthcare provider, and is associated with glycemia. The SCPI was designed to allow a healthcare provider to individualize the education/support by assessing the three critical dimensions of self-management: knowledge of a skill; confidence in ability to change a behavior; and preparedness to begin implementing the behavior change. Two previous validation studies showed that the SCPI has high internal consistency, reliability, generalizability, and external validity. Following further focus groups with healthcare providers and patients, the SCPI questions and response scale were edited to further optimize clarity. This study assessed the validity and reliability of a revised, final version of the LMC SCPI in a large sample of diabetes patients, as well as clinical responsiveness of the SCPI to a diabetes self-management education (DSME) program intervention. This study recruited type 1 and type 2 patients from the waiting rooms of seven LMC Diabetes \& Endocrinology specialist clinics in Ontario, Canada. Patients completed the SCPI electronically and their demographic and health information was retrieved from their electronic medical records. A smaller cohort of patients with uncontrolled glycemia were enrolled into a DSME program. Participants completed the SCPI at their baseline visit and their individual results were incorporated into the care paths that were then customized for that participant. The DSME program provided five to seven visits with a diabetes educator over three to four months. Patients completed the SCPI again at their final visit.