Della Maneze

Aim To develop and test the psychometric properties of an expanded catheter self‐management scale for patients with in‐dwelling urinary catheters. Design A cross‐sectional validation study. Despite the utility of the original 13‐item catheter self‐management scale, this instrument did not include bowel management, general hygiene and drainage bag care, which are fundamental skills in urinary catheter self‐management to prevent common problems resulting in unnecessary hospital presentations. The expanded catheter self‐management scale was developed with 10 additional items to comprehensively assess all five essential aspects of urinary catheter self‐management. Methods A total of 101 adult community‐dwelling patients living with indwelling urinary catheters were recruited from Western Sydney, Australia. Using exploratory factor analysis with Varimax rotation, the number of factors to be extracted from the expanded 23‐item expanded catheter self‐management scale was determined using a scree plot. The reliability of the overall scale and subscales was measured using Cronbach's alpha. Convergent validity was assessed using Spearman's correlations between clinical characteristics, overall scale and subscales. Results The 23‐item expanded catheter self‐management scale yielded a 5‐factor solution, labelled as: (i) self‐monitoring of catheter function, (ii) proactive, help‐seeking behaviour function, (iii) bowel self‐care function, (iv) hygiene‐related catheter site function and (v) drainage bag care function. Cronbach's alpha of the expanded catheter self‐management scale indicating all 23 items contributed to the overall alpha value. Convergent validity results showed a negative correlation between the overall expanded catheter self‐management scale and catheter‐related problems. Conclusion The 5‐factor structure provided a comprehensive assessment of key aspects of urinary catheter self‐management essential to reduce the likelihood of catheter‐related hospital presentations. Implications The expanded catheter self‐management scale can be used to assess and monitor effective patient‐centred interventions for optimal self‐management to prevent catheter‐related problems and improve the quality of life of patients. Impact Many patients start their journey of living with a urinary catheter unexpectedly and are not supported with quality information to care for their catheter. The findings of this study show the correlation between catheter self‐management skills and catheter‐related problems. The expanded catheter self‐management scale (E‐CSM) assists with analysing the self‐management skills of patients living with a catheter and developing tailored interventions to prevent problems and improve their quality of life. In addition, this screening tool can be included in policies, guidelines, and care plans as a standard for improving catheter management and developing educational resources for patients. Reporting Method STROBE checklist was used to report all aspects of this study comprehensively and accurately. Patient or Public Contribution Patients living with indwelling urinary catheter and their carers have participated in surveys, interviews and co‐designing interventions. This paper