Validation of a pregnancy planning measure for Arabic-speaking women.

Eman Almaghaslah,Roger Rochat,Ghada Farhat,Stephen L Atkin

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0185433

Eman Almaghaslah, Roger Rochat + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0185433

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Abstract

BackgroundThe prevalence of unplanned pregnancy in Saudi Arabia has not been thoroughly investigated.ObjectiveTo conduct a psychometric evaluation study of the Arabic version of the London Measure of Unplanned Pregnancy (LMUP).MethodsTo evaluate the psychometric properties of the LMUP, we conducted a self-administered online survey among 796 ever-married Saudi women aged 20–49 years, and a re-test survey among 24 women. The psychometric properties evaluated included content validity measured by content validity index (CVI), structural validity assessed by exploratory factor analysis (EFA), substantive validity assessed by hypothesis testing, contextual stability for the test-retest assessed by weighted Kappa, and internal consistency assessed by Cronbach’s alpha.ResultsThe psychometric analysis of the Arabic version of LMUP exhibited valid and reliable properties. The CVIs for individual items and at the scale level were >0.7. EFA confirmed a unidimensional extraction of the scale item. Hypothesis testing confirmed expected associations. The tool was stable with weighted kappa = 0.78 and Cronbach’s alpha = 0.88.Conclusion and recommendationsIn this study, the validity and reliability of the Arabic version of the LMUP were confirmed according to well-known psychometric criteria. This LMUP version can be used in research studies among Arabic-speaking women to measure unplanned pregnancy and investigate correlates and outcomes related to unplanned pregnancy.

Highlights

Unplanned pregnancy, referred to as mistimed, unintended, or unwanted pregnancy, has received a remarkable amount of attention from public health professionals and social scientists
The psychometric properties evaluated included content validity measured by content validity index (CVI), structural validity assessed by exploratory factor analysis (EFA), substantive validity assessed by hypothesis testing, contextual stability for the test-retest assessed by weighted Kappa, and internal consistency assessed by Cronbach’s alpha
The validity and reliability of the Arabic version of the London Measure of Unplanned Pregnancy (LMUP) were confirmed according to well-known psychometric criteria

Summary

Introduction

Referred to as mistimed, unintended, or unwanted pregnancy, has received a remarkable amount of attention from public health professionals and social scientists. Public health professionals use unintended pregnancy as a proxy for understanding population fertility and family planning (FP), and to measure the unmet need for contraception [1, 2]. Social scientists have become more interested in studying unintended pregnancy as it has been linked to women’s autonomy–their ability to decide to have a baby or not and to choose the appropriate time for them–and to couples’ failure regarding contraceptive use, which might be because of unmet need for family planning, incorrect use of contraception, or absence of women’s agency in practicing reproductive rights [1]. The prevalence of unplanned pregnancy in Saudi Arabia has not been thoroughly investigated

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