Development and psychometric evaluation of the post-disaster women’s sexual and reproductive health assessment scale

AIM: This study aimed to develop a standardized measurement tool with robust psychometric properties to assess women’s sexual and reproductive health after disasters. METHOD: This methodological study was conducted between May and August 2023 among sexually active women aged 18–49 living in temporary shelters (tents or containers) in earthquake-affected areas of Türkiye (Kahramanmaraş, Malatya, and Gaziantep) following the earthquakes centred in Kahramanmaraş on 6 February 2023. Pregnant women and women diagnosed with psychological disorders were excluded from the study. A total of 540 women who voluntarily agreed to participate were included in the study using convenience sampling. Content validity was assessed through expert opinions, and the content validity index (I-CVI) and Kendall’s W coefficient, while construct validity was assessed through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) coefficient, and Bartlett’s test of sphericity. Reliability was evaluated based on internal consistency using Cronbach’s alpha and item-total correlation coefficients, and time-invariance was examined via a test-retest procedure. The initial pool of 28 items was reduced to a final scale consisting of 15 items based on the results of the validity and reliability analyses. RESULTS: A pool of 28 items, developed based on key principles of post-disaster women’s health and a comprehensive literature review, was presented to seven midwifery experts for evaluation in terms of content and clarity. The exploratory factor analysis resulted in a structure consisting of 15 items, explaining 74.423% of post-disaster women’s sexual and reproductive health assessment, and 5 factors: personal hygiene, access to healthcare personnel, contraception, sexual life, and safety. According to the confirmatory factor analysis, this structure with 15 items and 5 factors had good fit indices and was validated as a model. The Cronbach’s alpha internal consistency coefficients for the factors ranged from 0.672 to 0.933, with an overall scale value of 0.800. Additionally, high correlations were observed in the test-retest-analysis of the scale. CONCLUSION: A valid and reliable measurement tool to evaluate women’s sexual and reproductive health after disasters was obtained in this study. This scale provides a comprehensive assessment of women’s health after disasters, offering a unique and scientifically robust tool that can be utilized both in academic research and field applications, thereby making a significant contribution to the literature.