Development and Psychometric Properties of Prenatal Obsession Compulsion Scale (POCS)

Objective: To develop an indigenous scale in Urdu language and determine psychometric properties to measure prenatal obsessive compulsive symptoms in pregnant women. Study Design: Cross sectional analytical study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Psychology, University of Gujrat, Pakistan, from Oct 2018 to Sep 2019. Methodology: Diagnostic criteria of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder present in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5 and Cognitive Behavior Model of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder were followed to develop the scale. An initial item pool comprising 119 items was generated with the help of extensive literature review, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-5 and focused group interviews. Expert evaluation limited the item pool to 100 questions. Tryout of scale retained 100 items. Items were re-sequenced and rephrased for final administration. Moreover, data were collected by using self-reported questionnaires from 300 pregnant women, selected by using purposive sampling technique from obstetric and psychiatric wards of different private and government hospitals of district Gujrat. Reliability analysis, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were implied for data scrutiny. Results: After final administration of 100 items, 69 items were retained after applying Exploratory Factor Analysis under three sub factors; Obsessions, Compulsions and Impairment of Functioning whereas model fit (p=0.000, CMIN/DF =1.62, CFI=0.934, RMSEA=0.046, SRMR=0.04, GFI=0.834 and TLI=0.93) of Confirmatory Factor Analysis confirmed 40 items for final scale. Conclusion: Prenatal Obsession Compulsion Scale with 40 items and three subscales is a reliable measure to assess obsessive compulsive symptoms during prenatal period.