Abstract: Objective: To develop a self-management behavior scale for knee joint discomfort in middle-aged and elderly people and test its reliability and validity. Methods: The definition of self-management behavior was determined based on literature review. Semi-structured interview and expert consultation were used to identify draft of the scale. A total of 528 middle-aged and elderly people over 45 years old were investigated by the scale, and the reliability and validity were tested. Results: The final scale includes 27 items and 4 dimensions, namely symptom management, daily life management, mood management, and information management. The I-CVI ranged from 0.833 to 1.000, S-CVI/Ave was 0.964. Exploratory factor analysis extracted 4 common factors, the cumulative contribution of variance was 58.583%. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the fit index χ2, df?, χ2/df?, RMSEA, CFI, GFI, AGFI, NFI, IFI, TLI were 1077.693, 318, 3.388, 0.094, 0.817, 0.731, 0.680, 0.761, 0.819, 0.798 respectively. The Cronbach's α coefficient was 0.946, the split-half reliability was 0.894 and the test-retest reliability was 0.876. Conclusion: The scale was proved to be reliable and valid. It can be used to assess the self-management behavior of knee joint discomfort in middle-aged and elderly people.

Key words: knee joint; self-management; reliability; validity