Development and validation of a psychometric scale to assess attitude towards safe abortions in Pakistan.

ABSTRACT

Despite severe health and economic consequences that women face because of the negative attitude of healthcare providers towards safe abortion and post-abortion care (SA/PAC), no psychometric tool has yet been validated for assessing the attitude towards SA/PAC. Only a handful of studies have attempted to assess healthcare providers' attitude towards safe abortions in Pakistan. Therefore, this study aimed to develop and validate a psychometric scale to assess attitude towards safe abortions in Pakistan. The study collected data from 106 workers of an NGO that provides SA/PAC through an online and anonymous survey using the organisation's network. The study used factor analytic techniques and structural equation modelling to validate the factor structure and a final hierarchical model. A final scale of seven items relating to attitude towards elective abortions and moral attitude towards safe abortions was validated. The scales were highly reliable with both factors having reliability indicators greater than 0.7. The scale can be easily implemented to assess providers' attitude towards safe abortions. This will allow programmers to screen healthcare providers with a negative attitude, and evaluate the efficacy of their Value Clarification and Attitude Transformation (VCAT) programmes that are aimed at transforming providers' attitude towards safe abortions.