Development and Preliminary Validation of a Comprehensive Questionnaire to Assess Women’s Knowledge and Perception of the Current Weight Gain Guidelines during Pregnancy

Holly Ockenden, Katie Gunnell, Audrey Giles, Kara Nerenberg, Gary Goldfield, Taru Manyanga and Kristi Adamo
Additional contact information
Holly Ockenden: School of Human Kinetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada
Katie Gunnell: School of Human Kinetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada
Audrey Giles: School of Human Kinetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada
Kara Nerenberg: Department of Medicine, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 4N1, Canada
Gary Goldfield: School of Human Kinetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada
Taru Manyanga: School of Human Kinetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada
Kristi Adamo: School of Human Kinetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada

IJERPH, 2016, vol. 13, issue 12, 1-18

Abstract: The aim of this study was to develop and validate an electronic questionnaire, the Electronic Maternal Health Survey ( EMat Health Survey ), related to women’s knowledge and perceptions of the current gestational weight gain guidelines (GWG), as well as pregnancy-related health behaviours. Constructs addressed within the questionnaire include self-efficacy, locus of control, perceived barriers, and facilitators of physical activity and diet, outcome expectations, social environment and health practices. Content validity was examined using an expert panel ( n = 7) and pilot testing items in a small sample ( n = 5) of pregnant women and recent mothers (target population). Test re-test reliability was assessed among a sample ( n = 71) of the target population. Reliability scores were calculated for all constructs ( r and intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC)), those with a score of >0.5 were considered acceptable. The content validity of the questionnaire reflects the degree to which all relevant components of excessive GWG risk in women are included. Strong test-retest reliability was found in the current study, indicating that responses to the questionnaire were reliable in this population. The EMat Health Survey adds to the growing body of literature on maternal health and gestational weight gain by providing the first comprehensive questionnaire that can be self-administered and remotely accessed. The questionnaire can be completed in 15–25 min and collects useful data on various social determinants of health and GWG as well as associated health behaviours. This online tool may assist researchers by providing them with a platform to collect useful information in developing and tailoring interventions to better support women in achieving recommended weight gain targets in pregnancy.

Keywords: maternal health questionnaire; health questionnaire development; questionnaire validation; gestational weight gain knowledge; gestational weight gain perceptions; maternal health behaviours (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/13/12/1187/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/13/12/1187/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:13:y:2016:i:12:p:1187-:d:84139

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().