Development of a gestational diabetes risk assessment scale: a validity and reliability study

Authors: SELMA DAĞCI, BESEY ÖREN

Abstract: Background/aim: The aim of this study was to develop a gestational diabetes risk assessment scale (GEDRISK). Materials and methods: This methodological study included 652 pregnant women who presented to six public health institutions in İstanbul between September 2021 and February 2022. Content validity was evaluated using the content validity index, while construct validity was assessed through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Item discrimination was examined using Cronbach's alpha coefficients, Spearman-Brown and Guttman coefficients, item-total correlation tests, and 27% lower and upper quartile t tests. Reliability was determined through test-retest analysis methods. Results: The scale-level content validity index demonstrated strong coherence at 0.83, confirming its robustness. In the EFA, the scale, comprising 18 items and 5 subdimensions, accounted for 57.48% of the variance (n = 652). The results of the confirmatory factor analysis were as follows: -2/df = 2.28; RMR = 0.01; CFI, GFI, and IFI = 0.95; AGFI = 0.93; NFI = 0.92; RFI = 0.90; and RMSEA = 0.04. The Spearman-Brown and Guttman split-half coefficient equal length analysis produced a result of 0.826, Cronbach's alpha value was 0.756, and the temporal consistency of the scale was evaluated with the test-retest method (p = 0.184). The structure of the scale was evaluated with a validity and reliability analysis and was found to have acceptable, valid, and reliable properties. The mean total GEDRISK score of the pregnant women participating in the study was 33.57 ∓ 4.71. It was observed that the GEDRISK scale identified 51% of the respondents diagnosed with diabetes through an oral glucose tolerance test. Conclusion: The GEDRISK scale was found to be a valid and reliable tool for the measurement of gestational diabetes risk in a sample of the Turkish population.

Keywords: Gestational diabetes mellitus, risk assessment, scale development, validity and reliability

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