Web-based questionnaires to assess perinatal outcome proved to be valid

Area of Science:

• Obstetrics and Gynecology
• Perinatal Research
• Health Informatics

Background:

• Accurate data collection on perinatal outcomes is crucial for epidemiological studies.
• Traditional methods rely on obstetric records, which can be time-consuming and resource-intensive.
• Web-based questionnaires offer a potentially efficient alternative for maternal self-reporting.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate a mother-completed Web-based questionnaire for assessing perinatal outcomes.
• To compare data collected via Web questionnaire with data from obstetric records.
• To evaluate the reliability and accuracy of maternal self-reported perinatal data.

Main Methods:

• Prospective cohort study involving 882 women in the PRegnancy and Infant DEvelopment (PRIDE) Study.
• Comparison of maternal Web-based questionnaire data (collected 2 months postpartum) with obstetric records.
• Analysis included continuous variables (e.g., gestational age, birth weight) using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) and categorical variables (e.g., mode of delivery) using sensitivity and specificity.

Main Results:

• High agreement observed between Web questionnaire and obstetric records for key continuous variables: gestational age (ICC=0.91), birth weight (ICC=0.96), birth length (ICC=0.90), and head circumference (ICC=0.88).
• Excellent sensitivity (0.86-1.00) and specificity (0.96-1.00) for categorical perinatal outcomes.
• Minimal differences in data collection methods indicate strong concordance.

Conclusions:

• Web-based questionnaires completed by mothers demonstrate high validity for collecting perinatal outcome data.
• This method can serve as a reliable complementary or alternative data collection tool in research.
• Supports the use of digital health tools for efficient and accurate perinatal data acquisition.