title: Development and Preliminary Validation of a Comprehensive Questionnaire to Assess Women's Knowledge and Perception of the Current Weight Gain Guidelines during Pregnancy.
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 (rand 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. TheEMat Health Surveyadds 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.
authors.affiliation: School of Human Kinetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada. hockenden@cheo.on.ca.|Heathy Active Living and Obesity Research Group (HALO), Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) Research Institute, Ottawa, ON K1H 8L1, Canada. hockenden@cheo.on.ca.
authors.forename: Holly
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ockenden
authors.affiliation: School of Human Kinetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada. kgunnell@cheo.on.ca.|Heathy Active Living and Obesity Research Group (HALO), Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) Research Institute, Ottawa, ON K1H 8L1, Canada. kgunnell@cheo.on.ca.
authors.forename: Katie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gunnell
authors.affiliation: School of Human Kinetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada. agiles@uottawa.ca.
authors.forename: Audrey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Giles
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 4N1, Canada. kara.nerenberg@ucalgary.ca.
authors.forename: Kara
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nerenberg
authors.affiliation: School of Human Kinetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada. ggoldfield@cheo.on.ca.|Heathy Active Living and Obesity Research Group (HALO), Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) Research Institute, Ottawa, ON K1H 8L1, Canada. ggoldfield@cheo.on.ca.|Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada. ggoldfield@cheo.on.ca.|Department of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada. ggoldfield@cheo.on.ca.
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Goldfield
authors.affiliation: School of Human Kinetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada. TManyanga@cheo.on.ca.|Heathy Active Living and Obesity Research Group (HALO), Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) Research Institute, Ottawa, ON K1H 8L1, Canada. TManyanga@cheo.on.ca.
authors.forename: Taru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Manyanga
authors.affiliation: School of Human Kinetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada. KAdamo@UOttawa.ca.|Heathy Active Living and Obesity Research Group (HALO), Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) Research Institute, Ottawa, ON K1H 8L1, Canada. KAdamo@UOttawa.ca.|Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada. KAdamo@UOttawa.ca.
authors.forename: Kristi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Adamo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D004032:Diet; D015444:Exercise; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D037841:Pregnant People / Q000523:psychology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D015430:Weight Gain; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: gestational weight gain knowledge; gestational weight gain perceptions; health questionnaire development; maternal health behaviours; maternal health questionnaire; questionnaire validation