Reliability and validity of the Greek version of the Revised Michigan Diabetes Knowledge Scale

OBJECTIVE The translation and validation of a questionnaire regarding patients' knowledge on diabetes mellitus (DM) in the Greek population. METHOD A structured questionnaire regarding the knowledge of the parameters of DM such as nutrition, management and exercise, was translated into Greek and back, by four translators and four independent researchers. The validity of the Greek version of the questionnaire was documented by two methods, face and content validity. The reliability of the questionnaire was based on the responses of 30 patients during the pilot study. The research was conducted from March to June 2018 on 150 DM type 2 patients who visited the two diabetic outpatient's clinic of a large general hospital in Greece by scheduled appointment. RESULTS During the face validity assessment, the majority of experts stated that the questionnaire described the concepts of the subject for which it was designed to measure. The content validity index of the total questionnaire was high (0.81), and moderate to high in particular questions, ranging from 0.785 to 0.814. Data analysis revealed a high level of knowledge regarding the nutrition of DM, the importance of consuming low-fat foods, the use of proper footwear, the importance of exercise on blood pressure, and the importance of regular visits to healthcare professionals in early detection of diabetic complications. CONCLUSIONS The adaptation of the questionnaire to Greek demonstrated an appropriate level of face and content validity, as well as high reliability. The instrument is simple, easy to understand and com-plete, so it could be a useful tool for studying the knowledge on DM.