Development and testing of the patient expectations and satisfaction with prenatal care instrument

Addressing consumer needs requires the development of a valid means of specifically measuring pregnant women's satisfaction with prenatal care. This study's purpose was to develop items for, to pilot-test, and to examine the structural validity of the Patient Expectations and Satisfaction with Prenatal Care (PESPC) instrument. Extant literature and information obtained from focus groups were used in the development. The PESPC was pilot-tested with a sample of 114 pregnant women receiving prenatal care. To structurally validate the PESPC, data collected from 587 women who participated in a cross-sectional, self-administered survey were used. Structural equation modeling and confirmatory factor analysis were used to develop and cross-validate the PESPC. The PESPC was found to be structurally valid, and the subscales of Expectations and Satisfaction demonstrated acceptable levels of internal consistency.