Development and Validation of the CHD-PEBBS: A Scale to Assess Perceived Exercise Benefits and Barriers in Coronary Heart Disease Patients.

Background: The level of perceived exercise benefits and barriers is one of the key influencing factors of cardiac exercise rehabilitation (CER). There is a lack of validated tools to assess coronary heart disease (CHD) patients' exercise perception.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to develop a scale assessing CHD patients' perceived exercise benefits and barriers (CHD-PEBBS) and test its reliability and validity.

Methods: A total of 205 CHD patients were recruited for a cross-sectional survey. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used to extract factors, delete items and evaluate construct validity. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient and test-retest reliability were used to test the reliability of the scale.

Results: Based on the health belief model, this study developed a perceived benefits and barriers framework. CFA showed that the fit indices (such as χ/df=2.281, CFI=0.93, RMSEA=0.079) were all acceptable A total of 6 factors were extracted through EFA, with a cumulative variance contribution rate of 75.52%. The perceived benefits subscale included 3 dimensions: "improving physiological indicators", "improving quality of life" and "improving physiological function" with a total of 12 items. The perceived barriers subscale also included 3 dimensions: "lacking of exercise support", "worrying about adverse consequences" and "poor exercise experience or perception" with a total of 10 items. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the scale was 0.917, and the test-retest reliability was 0.941.

Conclusion: The CHD-PEBBS shows good reliability and validity, which may be used to evaluate the CER perception level of CHD patients, offering precise targets and pathways for exercise rehabilitation interventions in nursing.