Development of a New Tool for Monitoring the Eating, Exercise, and Medication Use among Diabetes Persons with Hypertension

Objective: To develop and test a novel health behavior monitoring instrument designed for diabetes persons with hypertension. Material and Methods: This study was designed to develop and test an instrument in four phases: item generation, content validity assessment, pilot testing, and full study. The Eating, Exercise, and Medication Use Questionnaire (EEMQ) was generated based on evidence available in literature reviews. The content validity of the indices of item objective congruence (IOC) was assessed by five experts face validity was piloted in a convenience sample of 10 individuals, and reliability was assessed by the full study in 30 participants with diabetes and hypertension. Results: The content validity assessment by five experts yielded a high content validity index (IOC=0.97), indicating that the items were relevant. Following the compilation of questionnaire items, content experts provided feedback on the content and appearance of the preliminary tool. The questionnaire demonstrated feasibility for monitoring health behavior, showing good exploratory values of validity. The self-efficacy scale of EEMQ exhibited a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.923, indicating satisfactory to excellent reliability in evaluating the internal consistency of the instruments. Conclusion: The Eating, Exercise, and Medication Use Questionnaire (EEMQ) has emerged as a suitable and comprehensive tool. It has been validated for content, face validity, and acceptable reliability. It is ready for use in monitoring health behavior related to diet, exercise, and medication use, particularly within behavior modification programs based on the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills (IMB) model for diabetes patients with hypertension.