Introduction:

Heart failure is a frequent condition, with exacerbations related to the ability to follow medical indications.

Objetive:

The goal is to determine the reliability and internal validity of a self-care scale in the Colombian city of Bogotá.

Material and methods:

Cross-sectional study. Te registers of the heart failure program were exported, general characteristics of the scale items were identified, they were transformed into 0-100 values and Cronbach's alpha coefficient (>0.7) was estimated, as well as the internal validity by intraclass correlation coefficient for unique measurements and the average (p < 0.05).

Results:

144 registers were reviewed, 30.6% of whom were female; most common comorbidities were arterial hypertension with 54.9%, atrial fibrillation with 35% and alterations of the thyroid function with 31%; only 9.2% presented low functional class. The scale showed appropriate confidence and internal validity values, the total self-care score was 48.30. Items with the highest score were ''I get a flu shot every year'' (61.19 points) and ''I weigh myself every

day'' (60.04 points); items with the lowest score were ''I take all medication as instructed'' (29.66 points) and ''I follow a low-salt diet'' (38.59 points).

Conclusions:

The self-care scale revealed appropriate confidence and internal validity for determining self-care in patients with heart failure in the city of Bogotá, Colombia. Further research is required to determine the concurrent validity with other instruments and prospective designs.

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