An Evaluation of the Validity and Reliability of the Maternal Health Literacy and Pregnancy Outcome Questionnaire

Maternal health literacy is the ability to detect risk factors, healthy lifestyle, and suitable nutrition during pregnancy and affects the outcome of the pregnancy. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the validity and reliability of the Maternal Health Literacy and Pregnancy Outcome Questionnaire (MHLAPQ).
In this descriptive, cross-sectional study, the MHLAPQ was translated into Persian, and then, back-translated. Then, qualitative and quantitative face validity and content validity of the MHLAPQ were evaluated. This evaluation was conducted using the views of faculty members and specialists. The Farsi version was evaluated using a random sample of 113 individuals randomly selected from among pregnant women referring to 5 health care centers in Mashhad, Iran. To determine reliability, a test-retest administration with a two-week interval was used, and to examine the internal consistency, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was calculated. Confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses were employed to determine the construct validity of the questionnaire.
Findings: The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of the maternal health literacy section was 0.89 and that of its subscales were 0.66 and 0.87. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of the pregnancy outcome section and its subscales was 0.67, and 0.69 and 0.72, respectively. The results of test-retest showed the staibility of the questionnaire and its subscales. Varimax rotation indicated two factors in the maternal health literacy and pregnancy outcome sections that in total explained 54.82% and 51.09% of the variance observed, respectively. The confirmatory factor analysis, based on the two-factor model obtained in the exploratory factor analysis, represented an acceptable fit to the obtained data.
The findings suggest that the MHLAPQ is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring maternal health literacy and assessing the outcome of pregnanacy in Iran.