The development of an instrument to assess women’s attitudes to mode of delivery

• Main Author: Hewat, Roberta Jean Wilma
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/21872

The purpose of this study was to develop and test an instrument that would reliably measure women's attitudes towards mode of delivery. The technique chosen for attitude measurement was a semantic differential. Cesarean and vaginal deliveries were rated using bipolar adjectives separated by a seven point scale. The adjectival pairs represented four factors; evaluation, potency, activity and anxiety-stress. The instrument was completed by 202 women who were attending prenatal classes in the Greater Vancouver area. Analysis indicated that Cesarean delivery and vaginal delivery occupy separate positions in a semantic space. This is reflective of differences in women's attitudes towards the two modes of delivery. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the factors evaluation and anxiety-stress are the most relevant predictors of women's attitudes towards mode of delivery; they accounted for at least 94 percent of the variance of the scores for each mode. The reliability of the factors evaluation and anxiety-stress for both Cesarean delivery and vaginal delivery was substantial. Concurrent validity of the Cesarean delivery category was indicated and the instrument is considered to have content validity. A semantic differential technique was useful in measuring women's attitudes towards Cesarean delivery and vaginal delivery. Further refinement of the instrument could yield an efficient and reliable assessment measure. === Applied Science, Faculty of === Nursing, School of === Graduate