Development and Validation of a Questionnaire to Assess the Risk Factors, Facilitators, and Barriers to Postpartum Weight Management.

ABSTRACT

Background: Postpartum period is associated with significant weight retention and weight gain. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a comprehensive questionnaire to assess the risk factors, facilitators, and barriers to postpartum weight management. Methodology: The development and validation were done in five major steps by applying a mixed-method study design. Items were generated through literature review, focus group discussions, and in-depth interviews, followed by the assessment of content validity, face validity, construct validity, and reliability. Result: The final questionnaire comprises 36 items which are split into five major domains assessing perceptions related to body weight, eating behaviour, physical activity, sleep pattern, and beliefs/myths associated with postpartum period. The questionnaire has a satisfactory construct validity through factor analysis (65.12) and good internal consistency and reliability with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.79. Conclusion: This is a comprehensive tool to assess the risk factors, facilitators, and barriers to postpartum weight management and will aid in developing women centric strategies to curb the problem. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13224-022-01631-0.