Abstract
BackgroundPreconception care helps to close the gaps in a continuum of care. It is of paramount importance to reduce maternal and child adverse pregnancy outcomes, increase the utilization of services such as antenatal care, skilled delivery care, and post-natal care, and improve the lives of future generations. Therefore, a validated instrument is required. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate the preconception care improvement scale (PCIS) in a resource-limited setting.MethodsA mixed-method study was carried out from 02, March to 10, April 2019 in Manna district, Oromia region, Ethiopia to test the reliability and validity of the scale. Items were generated from literatures review, in-depth interviews with different individuals, and focused group discussions with women of reproductive age groups. A pretested structured questionnaire was used and a survey was conducted among 623 pregnant women in the district. The collected data were entered into EPI-data version 3.1 software and exported to SPSS version 23 software and data were analyzed for internal consistency and validity using reliability analysis and factor analysis.ResultsThe PCIS has 17 items loaded into six factors: Substance-related behaviors, screening for common non-communicable and infectious diseases, micronutrient supplementation and vaccination, seeking advice, decision and readiness for conception, and screening for sexually transmitted diseases. Factor analysis accounted for 67.51% of the observed variance. The internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha) of the scale was 0.776. Diversified participants of the qualitative study and experts’ discussions assured the face and content validity of the scale. Factor loading indicated the convergent validity of the scale. Three of the PCIS subscale scores had a positive and significant association with the practice of preconception care and antenatal care visits, which confirmed the predictive validity of the scale.ConclusionThe PCIS exhibited good reliability, face validity, content validity, convergent validity, and predictive validity. Thus, the scale is valid and helps to improve preconception care, especially in resource-limited settings.
Highlights
During the last four decades, efforts to improve pregnancy outcomes have mainly focused on antenatal care, skilled birth attendants and postnatal care [1].the maternal and child mortality rates are still high
The qualitative approach used in-depth interviews (IDIs) and focused group discussions (FGDs) with diverse individuals
Before conducting the factor analysis, we checked for its assumptions and some parameters were fixed
Summary
During the last four decades, efforts to improve pregnancy outcomes have mainly focused on antenatal care, skilled birth attendants and postnatal care [1].the maternal and child mortality rates are still high. During the last four decades, efforts to improve pregnancy outcomes have mainly focused on antenatal care, skilled birth attendants and postnatal care [1]. The. Teshome et al BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth (2022) 22:28 high prevalence of maternal and child mortality was mainly due to two main reasons: The first was due to the reason that women are too late to attend services like antenatal care and the initial critical period of the first 1000 days is frequently missed [4]. It is of paramount importance to reduce maternal and child adverse pregnancy outcomes, increase the utilization of services such as antenatal care, skilled delivery care, and post-natal care, and improve the lives of future generations. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate the preconception care improvement scale (PCIS) in a resource-limited setting
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