Research

Design and validity of a questionnaire to assess sexuality in pregnant women

Cibele VC Rudge^1,2*, Iracema MP Calderon³, Adriano Dias⁴, Gerson P Lopes⁵, Angélica P Barbosa⁴, Izildinha Maestá⁴, Jon Ø Odland⁶ and Marilza VC Rudge²

• * Corresponding author: Cibele VC Rudge cirudge@yahoo.com.br

Author Affiliations

¹ Institute of Community Medicine, Tromso, Norway

² Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Botucatu Medical School, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Brazil

³ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Botucatu Medical School, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Brazil

⁴ Research Group Council – Botucatu Medical School (UNESP), Brazil

⁵ Department of Sexology, Mater Dei Hospital, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil

⁶ Institute of Community Medicine, University of Tromsø, Norway

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Reproductive Health 2009, 6:12 doi:10.1186/1742-4755-6-12

Published: 29 July 2009

Abstract

Background

A review of validated methods for assessing female sexual dysfunction and a review of male and female sexual dysfunction did not refer to any specific questionnaire for evaluating sexuality during pregnancy. A study was performed at the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department of Botucatu Medical School, São Paulo State University, Brazil to design and validate a pregnancy sexuality questionnaire, the Pregnancy Sexual Response Inventory (PSRI).

Methods

Women with a singleton pregnancy between 10 and 35 weeks of gestation were randomly recruited. There were five phases in the development of the PSRI: (1) item selection; (2) item development; (3) determination of internal consistency, reliability and convergence; (4) content validity; and (5) determination of inter-interviewer reliability. Internal consistency and reliability were evaluated using Cronbach's alpha. Inter-interviewer reliability was assessed by evaluating the responses of 18 academics at various institutions, using Kappa Index and Student t test.

Results

Good internal consistency and reliability were obtained (Cronbach's alpha coefficient = 0.79). Among the 18 academics, 13 totally agreed (K = 1.0), three partially agreed (K = 0.67) and two disagreed (K = 0.33) with the proposed questions. Comparisons of the mean PSRI domain scores made between the primary investigators and the other interviewers showed no significant differences in all domains (p > 0.05).

Conclusion

PSRI is a new validated instrument for evaluating sexuality and sexual activity and related health concerns during pregnancy.