Development and Psychometric Properties of the Decision Making on the Type of Delivery Questionnaire in Iranian Women.
Robab Latifnejad Roudsari, Maryam Zakerihamidi, Effat Merghati Khoei and 1 others
PMID 28670590WHAT IT FOUND
An Iranian questionnaire mapped women's beliefs about vaginal and caesarean birth into seven factors, including fear, social pressure, information sources and prior experience.
It was checked in 400 women, but no clinical benefit or reduced caesarean rate was shown.
Key findings
01Interviews and observations with 45 women, midwives and clinicians produced three themes about vaginal delivery, caesarean delivery and the factors shaping delivery choice.
02In 400 pregnant and postpartum women, exploratory factor analysis identified seven factors: motivational beliefs on vaginal delivery, social beliefs towards childbirth, motivational beliefs on caesarean delivery, personal beliefs, sources of information, catastrophic thinking, and childbirth experiences.
03The questionnaire showed internal consistency of 0.8 across the seven factors, but this was reported for a 36-question version.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The questionnaire was developed and validated only in Iranian women in Tonekabon, so the words, beliefs and factors may not apply elsewhere. It measures self-reported perceptions about delivery, not medical need, birth safety or clinical outcomes. The validation sample was recruited by convenience sampling from clinics and a hospital, so it may not represent all women. The authors report no similar tool for comparison, limiting how well the scale can be judged against existing measures. The paper does not make the final number of questionnaire items clear, because the item count changes during validation and the reliability test uses a different count. The study did not test whether giving the questionnaire to women changed clinician behaviour, maternal health, birth choice or caesarean rates.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that the questionnaire reduces caesarean sections or improves maternal health. It was developed and checked for reliability in Iranian women, not tested as a clinical intervention, and its use by midwives or obstetricians was not evaluated.