Self-efficacy: strategy for enhancing diabetes self-care.

This study found that the concept of self-efficacy was associated with diabetes self-care behaviors for individuals with complex insulin requirements. Individuals with higher levels of self-efficacy were better able to manage their diabetes self-care. Diabetes educators are encouraged to incorporate the self-efficacy concept into teaching programs to help individuals develop their own strategies for long-term management of their diabetes. The diabetes scales that made both concepts, self-efficacy and self-care, operational have content validity and measurement reliability and may be used in practice settings to obtain pretreatment information and to evaluate outcomes.