Exploring Australian high-performance athletes’ perceptions and experiences of sport participation during pregnancy and post-pregnancy: Development and test-retest reliability of the Mum-Alete Survey

• Main Authors: Forsdick, Victoria K, Harris, Rachel, Saw, Richard, Hayman, Melanie, Buckling, Hannah, Sundgot-Borgen, Jorunn, Hughes, David, Perera, Nirmala Panagodage
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: athlete; postpartum; pregnancy; return to sport

Objectives: To develop and assess the test-retest reliability of a survey exploring high-performance athletes’ perceptions and experiences during and post-pregnancy. Design: Cross-sectional mixed-methods survey. Methods: A three-phase approach was employed to develop the Mum-Alete survey. Relevant domains and questions were identified through a review of the literature and gap analysis (Phase 1). The face and content validity were assessed during Phase 2. The survey was modified, and the final survey included 113 questions. The test-retest reliability was assessed during Phase 3. Seven athletes aged ≥18 years who were currently pregnant and/or given birth since 1 July 2016 were recruited. The survey was administered via Qualtrics and completed on two occasions. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) were determined to assess test-retest reliability (excellent, good, moderate, and poor). Results: The average ICC of all items was 0.962 (95% CI 0.957–0.966) demonstrating excellent test-retest reliability. The test-retest reliability was excellent for the demographic and general questions domain (ICC = 0.967 95% CI 0.955–0.977) and good for the exercise (ICC 0.762 95% CI 0.707–0.811), physical health (ICC 0.841 95% CI 0.810–0.868) and well-being (ICC 0.827 95% CI 0.784–0.865) domains. Conclusions: The high test-retest reliability of the survey indicates excellent consistency of measures between the two time-points.