Development, validation and psychometric testing of knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) questionnaire about antenatal exercises among pregnant women: Tamil language

Background : Antenatal exercises are a set of unique exercise protocol that is designed specific to the mother and fetus. The antenatal exercises are proven to reduce the risks of systemic illnesses during pregnancy. It benefits the mother by assisting in maintenance of healthy weight and positively contributing to the physiological health, psychological health and overall wellbeing of the mother. The benefits of antenatal exercises broadly cover the healthy development of the fetus and a safe baby birth.   The reduced physical activities among women globally due to the modern lifestyle adaptations have proven to have negative impact in their gestational phase. Approximately 1.3 million maternal deaths were estimated among Indian women in the last two decades. A lack of physical activity and exercise is associated with maternal and fetal adverse outcomes. These include pregnancy complications such as gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), preeclampsia, gestational hypertension and fetal macrosomia due to rising maternal obesity.Methodology : It is a prospective cross sectional observational study with the sample size of 461 pregnant women’s. Sample size was calculated using single                        population proportion formula; the following assumptions were used ,the margin of error  5%,confidence interval 95%,proportion or prevalence -50%

Procedure :

Questionnaire item generation

Step 1: An extensive literature review was conducted to identify suitable items for the questionnaire. In addition, existing guidelines and

recommendations of recognized bodies like ACOG and FOSGI, India will be used.

Step 2: A focal group will be setup including OBS Physicians ,OBG Nurses, OBG Physiotherapists and Graduate Pregnant mother

                

Questionnaire item reduction/selection

                

Step 3: Selection and organization of Questionnaire items

Step 4: Pilot testing of Questionnaire

Step 5: Test, re-test reliability

**Step 6:**Psychometric analysis

Discussion:

This study will develop a new self- reported, contextual based outcome measure which assess the understanding, believes, doing (good practice) of antenatal exercise among pregnant              mothers in Tamil Nadu. We strongly believe that the proposed study design and methods will generate a three dimensional KAP Antenatal questionnaire which will be easy, reliable

and accurate.