Health Beliefs Related to Cardiovascular Disease (HBCVD) Scale

Many cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors are modifiable, yet most adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) do not adhere to basic diabetic diet and exercise recommendations. Health beliefs are important predictors of patient behaviors, and an understanding of a person’s health beliefs can inform targeted interventions to influence health behaviors and improve health outcomes. The health beliefs related to cardiovascular disease scale (HBCVD) is a 25-item self-report Likert scale designed to measure four health belief domains among patients with T2DM: perceived susceptibility to heart attack and stroke, perceived severity of heart attack and stroke, perceived benefits of diet and exercise, and perceived barriers to diet and exercise. Evidence supports the 4-factor model structure through confirmatory factor analysis with factor loadings supporting the 4-factor solution (perceived susceptibility, severity, benefits, and barriers). However, other research has shown that a 2-factor model specifying the benefits and susceptibility subscales has more stable factor structure and good reliability with Cronbach’s alpha-values of 0.91 for both subscales. The HBCVD has been translated into multiple languages and adapted for use in a variety of different populations and cultures. The HBCVD is suitable for measuring health belief domains among patients with T2DM. Future research should focus on further evaluations of the psychometric properties of the original and modified versions of the HBCVD with larger and more diverse samples.