[Item selection for perinatal maternal health literacy scale]

Area of Science:

• Perinatal Health
• Health Literacy Measurement
• Maternal Health

Background:

• Health literacy is crucial for maternal and infant well-being.
• Existing scales may not fully capture perinatal maternal health literacy.
• Developing a reliable scale is essential for targeted interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a reliable and accurate scale for perinatal maternal health literacy.
• To refine an existing scale by selecting the most relevant items.
• To establish a psychometrically sound instrument for assessing maternal health literacy during the perinatal period.

Main Methods:

• A Delphi method involving 14 experts was used to evaluate 56 initial items, retaining 50.
• A cross-sectional survey of 350 postpartum women was conducted, with 10% retested after one week.
• Six statistical methods (Chi-square, correlation, factor analysis, Cronbach's alpha, retest reliability) were employed for item selection.

Main Results:

• The final scale consists of 33 items, selected based on consensus from at least three statistical methods.
• Item reduction was performed using various statistical techniques, with significant item deletions across methods.
• The Person correlation coefficient was 0.507 (P=0.004), indicating moderate reliability.

Conclusions:

• A simplified, novel scale for perinatal maternal health literacy has been developed.
• The scale requires further extensive validation, including large-sample surveys and comprehensive reliability and validity testing.
• The findings provide a foundation for a new tool to assess maternal health literacy in the perinatal period.