Abstract
BackgroundAlthough shift works is a certain treat for female reproductive health, but currently, there is no standardized instrument for measuring reproductive health among female shift workers. This study aims to develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of a Women Shift Workers’ Reproductive Health Questionnaire (WSW-RHQ).MethodsThis is a sequential exploratory mixed-method study with a qualitative and a quantitative phase. In the qualitative phase, semi-structured interviews will be held with female shift workers who live in Mazandaran Province, Iran, additionally, the literature review will be performed by searching electronic databases. Sampling will be done in different workplaces and with maximum variation respecting female shift workers’ age and job and educational and different economic situation. Interview data will be analyzed using conventional content analysis and then, the primary item pool for the questionnaire will be developed. In the quantitative phase, we will evaluate the psychometric properties of the questionnaire, i.e. its face, content, construct as well as reliability via the internal consistency, stability. Finally, a scoring system will be developed for the questionnaire.DiscussionThe development of WSW-RHQ will facilitate the promotion and implementation of reproductive health interventions and assessment of their effectiveness. Other scholars can cross-culturally adapt and use the questionnaire according to their immediate contexts.
Highlights
Shift works is a certain treat for female reproductive health, but currently, there is no standardized instrument for measuring reproductive health among female shift workers
Most female workers in Iran work in the service sector, healthcare organizations, welfare institutes, and nursing homes
Shift work is associated with a wide range of physical, psychological, and social health problems
Summary
Shift works is a certain treat for female reproductive health, but currently, there is no standardized instrument for measuring reproductive health among female shift workers. Most female workers in Iran work in the service sector [3], healthcare organizations [4], welfare institutes, and nursing homes. Shift work disrupts normal circadian rhythm, reduces blood level of melatonin, causes sleep-wake cycle disorders [3], and alters pituitary production of prolactin [6] and sexual hormones such as luteinizing [7] and estrogen [8]. These alterations cause menstrual irregularities and thereby threaten women’s reproductive health [3, 9]. Marino et al and Zhu et al reported that shift work can affect different aspects of women’s reproductive health [13, 14]
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