Fertility awareness scale development study in Turkish women

• Published in: European journal of integrative medicine 2022-01, Vol.49, p.102101, Article 102101
• Main Authors: Özşahin, Zeliha, Aksoy Derya, Yeşim
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Fertility; Fertility awareness; Scale development
• ISSN: 1876-3820; 1876-3839
• DOI: 10.1016/j.eujim.2022.102101

•Fertile awareness is an important factor for women's reproductive life.•Reliable measurement tools are required to measure fertility awareness.•When counseling women, health professionals should question their reproductive planning. There is a lack of information about fertility in the world, so in order to increase fertility awareness, it is necessary to provide effective counseling services. Therefore, there is a need for reliable measurement tools to be used to determine fertility awareness levels in women. This study of 500 women between the ages of 18 and 49 focussed on developing a valid fertility awareness instrument. Scale development was carried out in 4 stages; creating an item pool, expert opinion, pilot testing, and validity-reliability analysis. Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Test, Explanatory Factor Analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis were carried out to ensure construct validity, and the Cronbach's α internal consistency coefficient. Item total correlation and test-retest analysis were used to test the scale's reliability. As a result of the explanatory factor analysis (EFA) conducted for the validity of the 39-item scale used in the study, 20 items with a factor load below 0.30 were removed from the scale, and a scale consisting of 19 items and two dimensions was obtained. The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) that was carried out supported the 2-factor construct (bodily awareness and cognitive awareness) of the Fertility Awareness Scale, and the fit indices of the scale were determined to be sufficient. The Cronbach's alpha internal consistency coefficient was found to be 0.887, 0.623 and 0.659 in the overall FAS and its dimensions. Furthermore, the item-total correlation analysis and test-retest analysis of the scale revealed high correlations. Consequently, a valid and reliable measurement tool that can measure the fertility awareness levels of women was obtained.