Development Process for Preterm Birth Risk Assessment Scale in High-Risk Pregnancy: 1st Phase of Preliminary Scale Development

Abstract

Purpose: To pool preliminary items based on nine domains as the first phase of developing a preterm birth risk assessment scale (PBRAS).Methods: Item generation was performed using deductive methods, such as literature review and related scales, and inductive methods through in-depth interviews with 11 preterm birth (PTB) women, and ex­perts validated the content. The experts were clinical nurses who worked in delivery rooms, and professors who taught on the subject of women's health nursing. Preliminary survey for 32-item was conducted among 27 women with PTB.Results: After item generation and pooling for the PBRAS, a total of 84 items were developed. A 32-item questionnaire was integrated with rigorous review by experts. Internal consistency of the 32-item PBRAS had a Cronbach alpha of 0.90. The PBRAS was significantly correlated with pregnancy stress (r= 0.77, p<0.001), somatic awareness scale (r=0.72, p<0.001), and risk scoring for PTB (r=0.44, p<0.001).Conclusion: The 32-item PBRAS has content validity, but exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses for the 2nd phase of scale development needs to be performed.